McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#221

Post by malza » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 12:50 PM UTC

djrogers wrote: post #173

malza wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Look at movie theaters. I don't think it was like that in the beginning. Running a cinema (movie theater) was a normal business until Hollywood milked it to the extreme. They created their own chains of multiplexes in many countries to push their idea of how the business should work. These days modern cinemas are built like tourist traps with customers having to either walk through/past chain restaurants or having…

I've not once been to a movie theater like you describe. All of the ones around here are like you indicate disappeared in the 90s. Where are you located?

UK. Modern cinemas are built with multiple restaurants often with an entrance inside the restaurant itself.

In extreme cases you have to walk from the entrance to the back of the complex (passing by maybe a dozen bars and restaurants), get to the end, hop on an escalator to the next floor and walk all the way back past more outlets. It's only then you reach the cinema.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#222

Post by emodendroket » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 1:22 PM UTC

MarkSweep wrote: post #136

emodendroket wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just knew some smartass was going to liken Santa Claus to God.

Both make a list of the naughty and nice boys and girls. One substitutes brimstone for coal, nebulous "eternal happiness" for toys, but they seem pretty similar to me.

I think that's excessively reductive and there are other differences, like incontrovertible proof there is no Santa (as opposed to merely a lack of evidence), the fact that Santa often has the exact same handwriting as Mom and Dad, the fact that no supernatural powers are attributed to him and yet he would need them to do what he supposedly does, etc. Besides that a debate about Christian apologetics kind of takes us away from the point I was making.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#223

Post by QuantumGravy » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 1:28 PM UTC

stctgion wrote: post #76

linkregister wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might not want to visit a farm, processing plant, warehouse, grocery store, or restaurant. They all throw away enormous amounts of food. Throwing away a Big Mac because it got too cold is a rounding error in perspective. That said, we produce more food than we ever have. Is there a difference to starving people whether a grain of wheat went ungrown or was wasted? What was the author meant to do, walk the hamburge…

Microwave it like the rest of us

No no no, you separate out the vegetation, if any, and keep it aside. Microwave any non-vegetable remainder for 15-30 seconds, depending on the mass of the burger: just enough to warm the meat. Transfer from microwave to toaster oven in two halves, toast briefly to crisp the buns, re-sizzle the meat, and melt the cheese. Arrange vegetation back in between. Enjoy a McDonald's burger that rivals its freshly served cousin. Finally, sit back and question the life decisions that lead you to putting this much thought into reheating fast food from McDonald's.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#224

Post by baby » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 1:29 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #218

greedo wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Used to be 10 minutes. Not sure now. Fried foods like McNuggets, McChicken and Filet O Fish were kept in a cabinet, then assembled into sandwiches. They were kept for roughly 30 min? The reason for the 10 minute rule was a quality issue; after that amount of time, cheese was gross, and the various condiments were trashed.

How tightly do they manage their production rate, presumably they're more careful than just "keep 6 on the warmer" and more like "the usual rate at this time is 70 per hour, we only lose 15% of those sales by asking the customer to wait, 5% of those losses go for other products, so we'll make at a rate of 1 every X minutes unless we have more than Y on hand"? (numbers completely off the top of my head)

I was in a pretty busy McDonalds so we were usually asked to do one more of X when doing X, or two more of Y, or 5 more of Z, ... depending on the rush. That's how we ended up trashing some.

That's because, when doing a big mac for example, it's almost as easy to make one or five on a tray. So better make 5 if you're in a rush, they will likely be fulfilled.

In cool periods we would only produce on command. So no waste. Fresh burgers.

Everyone used to say that Franchise didn't care too much about these rules (where they should), and the director didn't like getting employees from Franchise McDonalds because they had to re-learn all the hygiene standards. Since that day I avoid franchise restaurants and go only to the official ones.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#225

Post by mathattack » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 1:31 PM UTC

This doesn't preclude McDonalds from holding risk. For a long time people said "Buy Kmart and Sears because the value of their real estate is more than their stock values." Then the real estate market tanks.... Real estate is an illiquid investment.

Also - when people choose to eat less burgers, or there is less innovation in the menu, the stock price dips.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#226

Post by Dagwoodie » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 1:52 PM UTC

I heard a professor tell a story about the founder of McDonalds going to a business class as a guest. He asked the students "What business am I in? Can anyone tell me?" and they all laughed, "why hamburgers of course". Then he corrected them. They're not just in real estate but they are very, very good at selecting franchise locations. The professor also claimed that Burger King's primary consideration on where to put their stores is the relative distance to McDonalds.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#227

Post by pc86 » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 1:54 PM UTC

stctgion wrote: post #76

linkregister wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might not want to visit a farm, processing plant, warehouse, grocery store, or restaurant. They all throw away enormous amounts of food. Throwing away a Big Mac because it got too cold is a rounding error in perspective. That said, we produce more food than we ever have. Is there a difference to starving people whether a grain of wheat went ungrown or was wasted? What was the author meant to do, walk the hamburge…

Microwave it like the rest of us

Microwaving fast food french fries is a special kind of alchemy that somehow turns them into concrete.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#228

Post by pc86 » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 1:56 PM UTC

mpeg wrote: post #146

csours wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kinda OT, but that's why I never buy physically large food items at McD's: the quicker you eat it the warmer it is. Also, the quicker you eat it, the less you have to think about it; and most of McD's food items do not bear much thinking about.

YMMV too. Personally, in my local McDonald's I can put an order without talking to a human, pick it up and buy some weed on the way out. Is that representative of every McD? No.

Other than the lack of human interaction I'm sure it's representative of a fair number of them.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#229

Post by pc86 » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 1:58 PM UTC

msie wrote: post #60

gjm11 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asshole ? Why? What harm or pain did Ed cause to anyone by throwing the food away?

Seems disrespectful to poor, starving people.

Only if you threw it away instead of giving it to a poor, starving person. Between two choice of eating it or throwing it out, neither affects the hungry any more than the other.

Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)

#230

Post by emodendroket » Fri, Apr 21, 2017, 2:08 PM UTC

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #24

elevensies wrote: post #4

What impresses me most about McDonald's is the highly effective and efficient incentive structure. You have the franchise owner who is very committed financially and can make a high income, plus lots of low cost labor following a very precise process. And they seem to be able to replicate it at almost any scale. What impresses me least about McDonald's is their ruthless child-targeted advertising. EDIT: in sort of a…

What is wrong with advertising to children? They don't have any money, the parents can always say no or the kids can learn quickly how to determine if they should do what ads tell them to do. They will greatly need that skill in modern America. Teach them early haha.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/118/6/2563

> Research has shown that young children—younger than 8 years—are cognitively and psychologically defenseless against advertising. They do not understand the notion of intent to sell and frequently accept advertising claims at face value. In fact, in the late 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held hearings, reviewed the existing research, and came to the conclusion that it was unfair and deceptive to advertise to children younger than 6 years. What kept the FTC from banning such ads was that it was thought to be impractical to implement such a ban.