NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald's has named a new president for its flagship U.S. division, marking the second change in less than two years. The world's biggest hamburger chain says former McDonald's executive Mike Andres will replace Jeff Stratton, who is retiring, effective Oct. 15. Stratton, 58, took over in late 2012 and replaced Jan Fields. That shakeup was made after McDonald's Corp. reported its first monthly sales drop in nearly a decade. Sales in the U.S. have remained weak ever since, with the company facing intensifying competition and changing eating habits.
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Fields and Stratton are both scapegoats. The real problem is DON THOMPSON
A cynic might wonder if this was in the plans all along, using operator money (and multi thousand dollar per store investments) to build the Mccafe brand. To say nothing about the multi millions of advertising dollars spent to build the McCafe brand. Where are the profits going to go ? They certainly wont be used to defray the startup costs per store of Mccafe. And why wont the bulk coffee be sold in our stores, where the operator could get a piece of the profits?
Oak Brook has done a good job of perpetuating the myth that McCafe espresso drinks have been a huge hit at McDonald's - to the point that even people who work in Oak Brook believe it. Therefore Kraft and the media would believe that a brand extension would make sense. The grocery store coffee aisle has become so cluttered with so many brands it's had to believe that McCafe will rise above that noise.
And yes, it will reduce visits to the restaurants. My office is less than one block from a Starbucks but I never go to it. I buy Starbucks coffee at Target and brew it in the office.
But that doesn't bother Starbucks - they're still moving beans - as a system with few franchises it just doesn't matter. There's no one to complain.
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NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald's has named a new president for its flagship U.S. division, marking the second change in less than two years.
The world's biggest hamburger chain says former McDonald's executive Mike Andres will replace Jeff Stratton, who is retiring, effective Oct. 15.
Stratton, 58, took over in late 2012 and replaced Jan Fields. That shakeup was made after McDonald's Corp. reported its first monthly sales drop in nearly a decade. Sales in the U.S. have remained weak ever since, with the company facing intensifying competition and changing eating habits.
===================================
Fields and Stratton are both scapegoats. The real problem is DON THOMPSON
A cynic might wonder if this was in the plans all along, using operator money (and multi thousand dollar per store investments) to build the Mccafe brand. To say nothing about the multi millions of advertising dollars spent to build the McCafe brand. Where are the profits going to go ? They certainly wont be used to defray the startup costs per store of Mccafe. And why wont the bulk coffee be sold in our stores, where the operator could get a piece of the profits?
Seems contradictory in driving coffee visits to the restaurants when they are being re routed to the supermarket. No?
Oak Brook has done a good job of perpetuating the myth that McCafe espresso drinks have been a huge hit at McDonald's - to the point that even people who work in Oak Brook believe it. Therefore Kraft and the media would believe that a brand extension would make sense. The grocery store coffee aisle has become so cluttered with so many brands it's had to believe that McCafe will rise above that noise.
And yes, it will reduce visits to the restaurants. My office is less than one block from a Starbucks but I never go to it. I buy Starbucks coffee at Target and brew it in the office.
But that doesn't bother Starbucks - they're still moving beans - as a system with few franchises it just doesn't matter. There's no one to complain.
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