McDonald's might have been able to ride out
the early days of the pandemic by streamlining
its offerings and dropping a few things like
its breakfast menu, but even the fast food
giant has suffered a few hits along the way.
As a result, McDonald's will be permanently
closing 200 locations across the country — but
the stores aren't being selected at random.
McDonalds CFO Kevin Ozan said during a call
with investors, per Restaurant Business,
"The U.S. is accelerating some restaurant
closures previously planned for future years.
Of the 200 U.S. closures for this year, over
half are low-volume restaurants in Walmart
store locations"
During the 1990s, McDonald's added to its
restaurant count by opening hundreds of branches
inside Walmart stores across the country.
But a change in strategy means McDonald's
will be closing its Walmart locations, as
well as those inside malls and other retail
areas, mainly because the company now prefers
locations with drive-thru windows. Restaurant
Business says 95 percent of McDonald's U.S.
stores have a drive-thru, and as a whole,
they have done better financially than stores
that don't offer the same feature.
The closures don't just have to do with a
change in business strategy, because McDonald's
has been hit by the pandemic, too. CNBC reports
that the restaurant's revenue fell by 30 percent
at its U.S. restaurants for the second quarter
that just ended, although CEO Chris Kempczinski
thinks the worst is behind the company. He
told CNBC,
"In many markets around the world, most of
notably in the U.S., the public health situation
appears to be worsening. Nonetheless, I believe
that Q2 represents the trough in our performance
as McDonald's has learned to adjust our operations
to this new environment."
McDonald's seems to be relying on its drive-thru
business to put the "big" back into its Big
Macs.
Ozan continued in his call to say that,
"The number of drive-thrus impacts the market's
pace of recovery. Markets with a higher percentage
of drive-thrus are showing quicker recovery.
Markets with a higher concentration of city
center and mall restaurants are seeing a heavier
impact from reduced foot traffic."
So it sounds like McDonald's just needs customers
to make trips through the drive-thru to make
up for the closures. As long as it's not customers
like these:
"Could I please have… a -elly donut and
raspberry and nuh nicks drink?"
"What?"
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Mashed videos about your favorite
foods are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube
channel and hit the bell so you don't miss
a single one.
