No, McDonald's Doesn't Regret Chipotle Spinoff
.
January 30, 2014
January 29, 2014
McDonald’s Seeks to Out-Latte Starbucks
“McDonald’s is trying to look and feel more like Starbucks,” said Howard Penney,
managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management LLC, who has covered the industry
for 20 years. “It’s actually hurting them, not helping them” because the chain’s
competitive advantage is food not beverages and because making complicated coffee
drinks slows down service.
McDonald’s Seeks to Out-Latte Starbucks in Coffee War - Bloomberg:
.
managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management LLC, who has covered the industry
for 20 years. “It’s actually hurting them, not helping them” because the chain’s
competitive advantage is food not beverages and because making complicated coffee
drinks slows down service.
McDonald’s Seeks to Out-Latte Starbucks in Coffee War - Bloomberg:
.
.jpg)
January 28, 2014
Golden Arches
Franchise Times magazine’s February issue contains an article about
McDonald’s.
It’s not yet on their web site so I can’t link it but one of the sidebars
contains
some sales history that’s interesting to look back on:
In 1997 McDonald’s AUV was $1.4 million
In 2013 McDonald’s AUV was $2.7 million
In 1997 Burger King’s AUV was $1.08 million
In 2013 Burger king’s AUV was $1.3 million
In 1997 Wendy’s AUV was $1.04 million
In 2013 Wendy’s AUV was $1.5 million
A Wall Street analyst is quoted:
“In a business where McDonald’s has been as successful as it has, at the
volumes
it has, $ 2.7 million, it makes it incrementally harder to drive sales.
They’re a
little bit of a victim of their own success.”
little bit of a victim of their own success.”
.
January 27, 2014
Cashing In
On January 24th McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson exercised his option on 30,000
McDonald’s shares at a price of $26.63 per share. He sold all 30,000 shares on
the same day at $95.07 per share for a net of $2,053,200.
McDonald’s shares at a price of $26.63 per share. He sold all 30,000 shares on
the same day at $95.07 per share for a net of $2,053,200.
.
January 23, 2014
January 22, 2014
Which Comes First?
Do you have to already be delusional to work for a huge bureaucracy or
does one
become delusional trying to adapt to the corporate culture?
In this article John Betts, President of McDonald’s Canada, tries to make
the case
for the Canadian version of the high density menu. The logic is
pretty confused.
Many will remember that Betts was General Manager in the Michigan
Region when
that state tested the original McCafe platform. If he had been
honest with McDonald's
Operators about how poorly espresso based drinks did
in testing he could have saved
the U.S. system billions in unnecessary
equipment purchases and additional billions
in wasted advertising spends.
And now OPNAD is going after espresso again? Not only is that a waste
of Operator’s
money but it won’t build sales, as proven every time it’s been
tried.
McDonald's Canada's Road to Redemption
.
McDonald'sJanuary 16, 2014
January 13, 2014
Bright Ideas From Canada?
McDonald’s Operators have asked, “Who is this Richard Ellis person mentioned in Don Thompson’s New Year letter"?
Richard Ellis was at the center of one of the past decade's most embarrassing events for McDonald’s USA.
In 2008 it became publicly known that McDonald’s Corp. had placed VP Richard Ellis on
the Board of Directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commence (NGLCC).
In addition McDonald’s was making monetary contributions to the group.
This caught the attention of family advocacy groups who launched a boycott of their local McDonald’s which generated substantial publicity and in certain parts of the country
hurt sales and the brand's local image. This of course caused an uproar among
McDonald's Operators.
Once Oak Brook saw the error of their ways they pulled Ellis from the NGLCC board and suddenly realized he was desperately needed in Canada. The boycotts were ended and
lessons were learned.
But now, for 2014, he seems to be the person with all the answers.
Here’s a little history from 2008
.