Subway Going the Way of Quiznos?

Subway taking a fresh look at change amid ratings drop
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Chipotle and the Elephant in the Dining Room

Commentary from QSRWeb
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Imagine, If You Will...

... McOpCo operating a huge McDonald's kitchen, or kitchens, set up in a basement
floor of a Manhattan skyscraper sending Uber deliveries all over the island.

  Opening a delivery-only restaurant

Could Chipotle's System Work In Drive-Thru?

Chipotle is testing drive-thru - Business Insider
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Become “The Disrupter” or “The Disrupted.”

One of the participants in this discussion says, 

"Disruption is by far the most exaggerated marketing term in circulation today. An overstatement and a cliché. Drop it."

Will ‘doubling down’ on tech help McD’s disrupt the fast food business? – RetailWire
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Is Amazon Killing Restaurant Traffic?

Jonathan Maze at NRN comments
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Safety Top Priority in McDonald's Fresh-Beef Push

And yet he's getting rid of everyone with real restaurant experience.

McDonald's CEO Says Safety Top Priority in Fresh-Beef Push
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Lyft Teams Up With Taco Bell

Said it before and will say it again - With so many QSRs jumping into the delivery business -
I think the market is very wide, but very thin - meaning - a lot of people will order delivery 
from a QSR - occasionally - so occasionally that no chain will do any real volume and with 
the commissions taken by the delivery companies it'll be a real money loser for franchisees.

Lyft teams up with Tacobell, Uber goes deeper with McDonald's
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Updated WSJ Coverage on MCD Q2 Results

This is what you get when you let people who've never operated a restaurant run a 
major restaurant company.

McDonald's CEO says, "McDonald's speed of service has been declining ..... but order accuracy and quality perception scores have improved, he said, adding that he hopes
the self-order kiosks and mobile-order and pay app will shave seconds off order times."

McDonald's Sales Show Improvement
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McDonald's Shares Hit All-Time High

McDonald's sales up on premium hamburgers and cheap drinks - BBC News

Wall Street Journal reports
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Why In-N-Out Burger Won't Expand East

Business Insider reports
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MarketWatch on McDonald's Earnings Tommarow

McDonald’s earnings: Sales expected to be boosted by menu, franchisee changes
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See You LAT-er

Hearing about the Leadership Alliance Team a term jumps out: 
"Star Chamber". 

The term dates back to 15th century England and is also the title of a 1983 movie about a panel of judges who decide who lives and who dies.
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Analyst: McDonald's Stores Being Sold To "Better Operators"

So forcing smaller Operators to sell to larger Operators improves operations?

RBC Capital Markets reports on McDonald's
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Hasta La Vista East Balt

McDonald's bun supplier East Balt to be sold to Bimbo for $650M - ChiTrib
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Nomura Raises McDonald's Projections

Based on recent McDonald's Operator survey
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Be Careful What You Ask For

More On Delivery Services

“A customer will equate the delivery person with your restaurant even if it’s a 
third party, so that’s something to take into account,” 

How restaurants can launch effective delivery services
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Chipotle - It's Happening Again

And McDonald's is going to unfrozen beef and chicken? Good luck with that!

Chipotle closes restaurant where customers got sick - Business Insider

The above article mentions a very nasty little website that publishes anonymous 
reports of food borne illnesses as totally credible.

This will give restaurant Operators a little heartburn.

iwaspoisoned.com
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Milwaukee Website Pranks UberEats

This first McDonald's store has figured out how to make McDelivery profitable -
leave out some of the food.

We used UberEats to get McDonald's delivered to weird and hard-to-find places
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Tim's Franchisees Vexed By Corporate Penny-Pinching

Tim Hortons' Operators Fret It's Losing Its Canadian Culture - Bloomberg
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Any Feedback on the Ice Cream Promo Problems ???

Please provide feedback by E-mail to adams@fegroup.com or comment here.
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This One's Just For Me

This is the story of the McDonald's restaurant where I began my McDonald's career. 
When I was hired the store was more than a decade old so I've slowly learned about
the importance of this store to the history of McDonald's.

McDonald's history buffs or those who liked "The Founder" will enjoy.

Battle over St. Louis Park, Minnesota McDonald’s had big impact on ‘the founder’
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Can Fancy Remodels Save the Fast-Food Industry?

Nancy Luna at Orange County Register
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Franchisors Ask Congress to Clarify NLRB Definitions

Nation's Restaurant News reports
.

Don't Just Focus On Millennials

AP on McDonald's "Turnaround"

McDonald's super-sized order: Get people visiting more
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Biggest Oak Brook Power Grab in History

McDonald's Local US Creative Accounts in Review - AdAge
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I Get This A Lot

I recently spoke with a McDonald's Operator who is thinking about blowing off some steam
by initiating a conversation with one or more Wall Street analysts. The Operator was having doubts because "I'm not a McDonald's shareholder and I don't follow the stock". 

That's not the issue - analysts don't want your input on the stock market - that's their job. Analysts want to know what's going on in the stores and in the marketplace as a counter balance to the never ending happy talk they get from Oak Brook.

It's common knowledge that I've been working with a certain analyst for the better part of 15 years. In all those years, with countless phone calls, E-mail discussions, and survey work we've never discussed the McDonald's share price or the stock market in general. He's never asked and I've never offered. My job is to help him better understand what's going on with McDonald's Operators, period. 

The same applies to all the analysts I've worked with over the years, no one's ever broached 
the subject. Wall Street analysts would have no reason to discuss share prices or trends with 
me or with McDonald's Operators.
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This Is Why It's Hard To Find Good Help - Video

JP Sears Explains Why Millennials Are Today's Superior Species
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High rent pushes out Lake Forest McDonald's, bank could take its place - Lake Forester

High rent pushes out Lake Forest McDonald's, bank could take its place - Lake Forester:



'via Blog this'

McDonald's And Its Debt Binge

I don't often post from Seeking Alpha because it's mostly opinion. But this concise article
is fact based and well thought out.

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) - Seeking Alpha
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Deep Thoughts On McDelivery

The first McDonald's franchise I operated was in a growing suburb 
of San Diego. The local high school was bursting with students 
and every household contained at least 1.5 teenagers. This was 
great for staffing the restaurant but there sure were a lot of crew people's "friends" hanging around the place. The first week I was working in the store I observed several instances where a 
drive-thru crew person would be running an order out to a 
parked car and bumps into one of their "friends" at the door of
the restaurant. The crew person hands the order to their "friend" 
and asks them to take the order out to the blue Chevy.

The second time this happened I called an emergency drive-thru 
meeting to establish that no one touches the food in any way 
except myself, my employees, and the customer.

I can't imagine running a McDonald's (or any kind of restaurant) and handing a prepared order to a complete stranger, a person with no accountability to me or my business, who 
would eventually deliver it to my customer.

Change is difficult and every franchise system program has pluses and minus for the franchisee. But this is the first program in McDonald's history where the McDonald's 
Operator has nothing to gain and a lot to lose.

Or is there an upside here for McDonald's Operators?
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Missouri Bans Cities' Minimum Wages

St. Louis minimum wage to decrease on Aug. 28
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Fast Food Makes Its Biggest Change Since The Drive-Thru

"Commissions paid to third-party delivery services risk degrading margins, so restaurants need to watch their delivery sales trends to justify the hit,"

"Delivery fees also raise costs for consumers. A McDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese meal, with a medium Coke and fries, delivered via UberEats to IBD's Los Angeles office from the Marina del Rey area takes an estimated 20 to 30 minutes. A $4.99 "booking fee" is tacked on to the food charge of $6.89 and 60 cents in taxes, bringing the total cost to $12.48."

Investor's Business Daily reports on McDelivery
.

Franchise Times Reviews McDelivery

Ordering McDonald’s Delivery with UberEATS - Franchise Times
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Big Brands Can't Win Playing Politics

Malaysia, Indonesia Muslim groups call for Starbucks boycott over LGBT rights
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Land of Lincoln Dead Broke

If a major corporation is moving their headquarters wouldn't it make sense to move a
few miles north or south and get out of the second worst governed state in the USA?

Illinois Senate votes to override Rauner veto of income tax hike, budget - ChiTrib
.

Minneapolis Votes for $15 Minimum Wage

Called 'victory for workers' - StarTribune
.

Minimum Wage Warning

The $15 disaster: Seattle’s grim warning for NYC