Another one is Wawa. They seem to be everywhere now.
I wish this were true and not hyperbole. It's the part of the mid-atlantic that I miss most in the midwest.
McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
51–60 of 273 posts
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#52McDonald's business model of renting premises to their franchisees sounds similar to the way many pubs are operated in the UK. Breweries (and "PubCo's") typically own the premises, which is leased to a tenant (publican) who is required to purchase the brewery's products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tied_house
In a pub setting the pub owner is free to select food and furtineture and such. Breweries will assist, but there's a lot of freedom.
In franchise you have to stick to the branding and menu offers and in practice you have to follow the prices (legally they can't force independent franchise companies to sell a burger for the same price, but there are ways) giving very little freedom.
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#53If you're ever at a meetup, and the presenter dances around the question: "How does your company make money?" then ask yourself, is it possible that this company is in marketing/advertising? More generally, ask yourself: Does this company's operations give it high quality information about a particular market?
The takeaway: Don't dismiss a useful service that you can't directly monetize. It's possible that you can gain high-quality information which can be monetized indirectly. It's all about getting better information about a particular market than everyone else.
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
you might enjoy: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2484147-lessons-... from Ed Weissman (who's #6 in overall karma on HN)
Enjoyed the read overall but one line stuck out: "- I take one bite out of my cold Big Mac and eat one cold fries and throw it all out." You have to be a special kind of asshole to throw away meat and food instead of just saying the food is cold.
Asshole? Why? What harm or pain did Ed cause to anyone by throwing the food away?
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#55There is a danger here.
McDonald's system = Windows
Franchisees = OEMs
Franchisees not doing their best = laptop filled with crapware
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#56Kind of OT but the company I work for has more locations than McDonalds, and Walmart. Not combined but separate. Which baffles me. When I first started here I never knew what went into a retail store, from architecture, construction, store layout, buying, merchandising, it's insane... We call our headquarters the 'Store Support Center' because our mission is to support all 16,000 if our stores nationwide and a few in…
Starbucks?
No. Dollar Tree, we recently acquired Family Dollar which is how our store count is so high.
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#57It was an eye-opener for me when I was a teen and bought a gallon of soft drink syrup from a McDonald's for use at a party. It worked out to about 5 cents a cup for the drink in a soft drink, which sold for 75 cents (if I remember correctly). McDonald's doesn't make money selling burgers, they make money selling the soft drinks and the fries. The same goes for any restaurant, it's why they ply you for drinks.
Look at movie theaters. They make all their money to a first approximation from popcorn and soda. The movie is just the loss leader that gets people in the door. It's also where the now much-mocked "super sizing" comes from. They can up the revenue per meal while upping the cost by almost nothing.
I'd agree if you are talking about the 'movie industry' -
While yes, what you describe is true - part of this has to do with the film rights pricing which is mandated by the studios/distributors, so even if a theater wanted to structure things differently, they could not..
Of course many of the major theatre chains are also related to the studios, so it gets a bit hard to see which end is up..
but I digress
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
>the kids can learn quickly how to determine if they should do what ads tell them to do. The problem is they can not do this at all. Children are extremely easy to manipulate, and that is pretty much what advertising is.
As a kid I quickly learnt to distrust ads, so I'm not sure why you think kids can't do this. They may not be adults, but they're not robots either.
Somehow I don't trust your own judgment of your ability as a child, especially when it is in contrast with the experience of most people and the findings of researchers.
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a kid I quickly learnt to distrust ads, so I'm not sure why you think kids can't do this. They may not be adults, but they're not robots either.
I remember at that age understanding that ads are not truthful at a deep level and filtering them. I find it's much harder for me now. Everything seems like an ad now a days and I may not believe the message but having the money to pay for so many ads on expensive platforms gives me a different message. If a company can afford a superbowl ad it gives me the impression the product has resources behind it and I can ass…
You're talking about the demographic who believes in Santa Claus, right?
Re: McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Enjoyed the read overall but one line stuck out: "- I take one bite out of my cold Big Mac and eat one cold fries and throw it all out." You have to be a special kind of asshole to throw away meat and food instead of just saying the food is cold.
Asshole ? Why? What harm or pain did Ed cause to anyone by throwing the food away?
Seems disrespectful to poor, starving people.