I see. yes. grandparents are, after all, grandparents
(at least they will be until some of today’s “parents” get grandkids)
McD has been known for many years to use a great many chemicals in its products. I used to be able to eat McD’s okay but no longer. Those big smokestacks in New Jersey, or maybe Communist China?, must have some new “additives” for McD’s? The last McD I tried to eat caused almost instant heaving regurgitation and I spewed it all over the interior of the car before I could get the window open or pull over to a rest/barf stop. I believe there must definitely something going on with the chemical alchemy.
At any event, I do realize that some folks like McD. My point wasn’t that it makes me barf. Simply, that the prices have got so high that families and many individuals cannot afford to patronize the place very much anymore. You see this also with the removal of the McD Playlands (they had rather cute play areas for children), the abandonment of the $1 menu items (whereby many a poor person could get a bite to eat), and the abandonment also of toys for kids. McD thinks it can make more profit by just moving its prices up and maybe we will see a couple “premium” burgers for, say, $12 or $15? I think McD needs new management. McD dominated the budget and family fast food market. It has thrown that away. For what? If I want to get a good burger, I will pay the higher price, yes, and go to Five Guys. Even the more directly=competitive Burger King puts out, imho, a far better product for about the same price as McD (and I don’t barf from BK).
I can’t figure out McD’s new business strategy. Wish I could, it would be interesting to be sure. I hope it is not like Sears Roebuck and JC Penney’s biz strategies, to almost abandon their most successful product lines and to try moving their price points up on cheap stuff, instead. You saw how the customer base just walked right out. Even from these venerable stores, both of which had good reputations for customer satisfaction and with their main product lines.
One of my takeaways about McD is that your franchise matters, as does the demographics of the employee base in the area.
I am fortunate here on both counts. And knowing several current and ex store managers I get inside stories on a lot of things.
Our stores are clean, team members are friendly and helpful, and the franchise ownership often goes to bat for customers against various corporate
- sponsored changes (such as limiting breakfast hours).
It is tedious to read comments on fast food threads here — “McD is crap, dining room is a trash bin, I get sick every time I go there...”. I say... Look at yourself, look at where you live, look at the guy that owns your franchise...
Also, revenue is still going up (slightly) although prices have stabilized and earnings are strong, so you can’t say the customer base departed en masse. But yes, it sure seems that families did, although some of this may just be less use of the dining rooms now — drive-thru and delivery still popular.