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McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

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Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#51

Post by sfifs »

johansch wrote: post #4
Clubber wrote: post #2

From what I understand, when McDonalds was cratering around when this article was written, they came up with all day breakfast. I've read several writings from franchisees complaining about the complexities of that and how it would cost them in kitchen renovations. Apparently the all day breakfast revitalized sales and McDonalds is on track for a rebound.

It kinda feels like McDonalds is being held back by their franchisees. I guess that is the downside to doing business that way.

Basically they don't take any working capital on their books this way it's all held by the franchisee.

Also, liability for the fast food workers would be with the franchisee and not the corporation. I don't know in the US but in my country, if you have more than around 50 employees or you are a public listed company, you are held to much higher labor standards than of you are a small company.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#52

Post by jumpkickhit »

ams6110 wrote: post #43
jumpkickhit wrote: post #33

Mcdonalds could really benefit from having robot delivery drivers. If I could order a burger combo and have it dropped off at work or home, and be cheaper than an entire pizza plus tip, i'd order from it way more often than I should.

I've seen a couple business attempts at McDonald's delivery. They never lasted very long.

Elaborate? I know they deliver in Hong Kong, and New York to great success. Though they have human delivers.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#53

Post by resf »

lr4444lr wrote: post #35
noonespecial wrote: post #28

And it’s not like people are tired of burgers. Smashburger, In-N-Out Burger, BurgerFi, and Five Guys Burgers & Fries are all expanding. So is Shake Shack... McDonalds problem is the same problem they've always had. The food just isn't very good. It never was. No amount of spiffing up the storefront or juggling menu items can help them when competition the likes of the above moves in. All they're doing is driving thei…

You're being charitable. It's downright bad, even compared with various other franchises on an item by item basis. The last time I ate in one back in 2008 because nothing else was open that early, I had a breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and sausage. Everything tasted almost identical - an oily salty mound - with only different chew textures. (Okay, maybe the sausage had a little ext…

No doubt, the food in McDonalds is bad. But it's very distinctive. You can buy a burger and fries at any number of joints, but you can only buy a McDonalds Big Mac and McDonalds fries at McDonalds.

You could call it Hershey Syndrome. Hershey's chocolate is not very good. In fact, it tastes like vomit. Yet the entire US has grown up eating Hershey bars.

Hershey don't compete on quality, they compete on "Hersheyness".

Likewise, McDonalds can't simply improve quality, because they would be losing their very essence in the process.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#54

Post by sjg007 »

noonespecial wrote: post #28

And it’s not like people are tired of burgers. Smashburger, In-N-Out Burger, BurgerFi, and Five Guys Burgers & Fries are all expanding. So is Shake Shack... McDonalds problem is the same problem they've always had. The food just isn't very good. It never was. No amount of spiffing up the storefront or juggling menu items can help them when competition the likes of the above moves in. All they're doing is driving thei…

Happy meals are a big thing. Huge. Also the new menu helps with the guac/dijon additions. Egg McMuffin has always been huge and the new coffee is way better than before.

But they could make a better burger. I heard the McAngus was great. They should bring that back.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#55

Post by mgkimsal »

ferdterguson wrote: post #41
wmeredith wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hardee's/Carl's Junior has ridiculously good burgers for a fast food joint. I gotta say though, since we got a Five Guys I don't even bother with them anymore if I want a quick burger.

To me the Hardee's burgers are just like Burger King.

have no way of telling if that's a compliment or complaint...

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#56

Post by brianwawok »

ams6110 wrote: post #39
wmeredith wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hardee's/Carl's Junior has ridiculously good burgers for a fast food joint. I gotta say though, since we got a Five Guys I don't even bother with them anymore if I want a quick burger.

Five Guys isn't quick by fast food standards. In my experience you wait ten minutes after you order. They are also more expensive. Their burgers are much better though.

You can order on the walk over. Ready when you arrive.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#57

Post by brianwawok »

swang wrote: post #23
johansch wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Sweden the cut-off/switch time is 10:00. It has been this time for a very, very long time.

ah okay. i was thinking about in the states.. which was 10:30ish

I think it varied a bit by store.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#58

Post by tylercubell »

pgrote wrote: post #50
tylercubell wrote: post #25

I worked in a franchisee-owned McDonalds circa 2011 and I agree with the sentiment of this article. At the time they were trying to be all things to all people. Instead of focusing on their core strength: burgers and fries, they expanded an already crowded menu by introducing items like the McWrap and Fish McBites that nobody really wanted. Since then I think they've been trying to turn things around by trimming the…

It ensures the proper amount of salt in the proper pattern is dispensed. Are there generic ones available? The idea behind tools like this is uniform product preparation. Fries in one McDonalds are almost identical to fries in another.

I understand the supposed reasoning, although in my own experience the uniformity of the fries is very spotty nonetheless. Usually employees don't spread the salt properly or they don't hold the shaker long enough for all the salt to properly dispense anyway. This negates any benefit of the AccuSalt.

Instead there are generic shakers that could get a very similar result with some training, even though they don't have a built-in measure. All commercial kitchen supply outlets have them.

Better yet, when kitchen staff are ultimately replaced by robots (or the salt dispenser gets built in to the fry station) this won't be an issue anymore.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#59

Post by joezydeco »

elandybarr wrote: post #20
chiph wrote: post #16

The all-day breakfast brought them more of my business. I really like the Egg McMuffin. But, the burgers are nothing to write home about - they're thin and not that juicy, and seem to be mostly bun. Their competition (Wendy's, Burger King) aren't really making good burgers either. I'm lucky that Austin has a wide choice in burgers from various independent restaurateurs.

Have you had any of the never-frozen Wendy's? Vastly improved over the last few years.

Refrigerated beef is McD's next attempt at a market revival. It's being pilot tested in Texas and is supposed to expand soon.

Re: McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald's Franchisee (2015)

#60

Post by codazoda »

sjg007 wrote: post #54
noonespecial wrote: post #28

And it’s not like people are tired of burgers. Smashburger, In-N-Out Burger, BurgerFi, and Five Guys Burgers & Fries are all expanding. So is Shake Shack... McDonalds problem is the same problem they've always had. The food just isn't very good. It never was. No amount of spiffing up the storefront or juggling menu items can help them when competition the likes of the above moves in. All they're doing is driving thei…

Happy meals are a big thing. Huge. Also the new menu helps with the guac/dijon additions. Egg McMuffin has always been huge and the new coffee is way better than before. But they could make a better burger. I heard the McAngus was great. They should bring that back.

I once heard that McDonalds was the largest toy distributer in the U.S. not Toys-R-Us, McDonalds. Not sure if it's still true, but Happy Meals are definitely a big thing. I grew up with them; many of is did.
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