McDonald's

[TheFugitive]

Stopped in McDonalds this morning for breakfast.

I noticed that they are rolling out an artisan sandwich program.   
The customer gets to choose the type of patty they want (beef, fried or grilled chicken),
what toppings they like, the type of bun, cheese, etc. etc. 

Not sure that's a smart move.  McDonalds famously simplified their menu awhile back
because of food waste costs and issues with speed of service.  Now they are heading
in the other direction.

If that's not strange enough, I overheard the manager tell another customer that
soon they will be serving steak!

[retailisking]

McD's is phasing out Hi-C Orange from its beverage lineup
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4456646/McDonald-s-RID-beloved-Hi-C-orange-drink.html

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

McD's is phasing out Hi-C Orange from its beverage lineup
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4456646/McDonald-s-RID-beloved-Hi-C-orange-drink.html

Wendy's still has their Hi-C beverage, Flashin' Fruit Punch. I don't get what all the fuss is all about over a fruity drink. They could always switch to Wendy's unless they have a good reason to like McDonald's.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Can McDonald's finally make a premium burger work?


McDonald's new Signature Crafted burgers include Maple Bacon Dijon; Sweet BBQ Bacon and Pico Guacamole.


By Samantha Bomkamp - Contact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

McDonald's has launched a line of premium mix-and-match sandwiches it calls Signature Crafted, a pricier option it hopes customers will bite onto despite their focus on value.

The Signature Crafted line features three topping choices: Maple Bacon Dijon (grilled onions, thick-cut bacon and Dijon sauce); Sweet BBQ Bacon (barbecue sauce, bacon and crispy onions) and Pico Guacamole (avocado, pico de gallo and buttermilk ranch sauce.) All come with white cheddar cheese. The topping options are available on a burger patty or grilled or crispy chicken. The new line, which rolls out nationwide this week, costs around $5. The timing of the rollout varies by market, and some restaurants in Chicago offered the sandwiches earlier than this week.

The Signature Crafted line was developed after McDonald's discontinued Create Your Taste, an entirely customizable sandwich platform.

Speed is a critical consideration for McDonald's and other fast-food chains rolling out new sandwiches, as too many options can bog down the kitchen and slow the arrival of a customer's food.

But McDonald's may face another problem with the unveiling of Signature Crafted: Customers may not be willing to fork over $5 for a burger. The world's largest burger chain said in March that the higher-priced versions of its value option, McPick2, didn't work. The Golden Arches also said it has lost millions of customer visits over the past five years, since it first moved away from the dollar menu.

Premium burger options have had little success at McDonald's. The company has tried a number of options from the Arch Deluxe to Sirloin Burgers that it eventually discontinued.

But CEO Steve Easterbrook says he's confident that customers will flock to the new options, which will be available with cooked-to-order fresh beef by the middle of next year. To balance out the price of a meal, McDonald's earlier this year cut beverage prices, offering $1 soda and brewed coffee. It also offers frequent promotions for free fries and other discounts through its mobile app.

[jamesway_95]

A seasonal McDonald's in North Wildwood, New Jersey closed for good.

http://www.wildwood365.net/2016/10/north-wildwood-mcdonalds-closes.html

There was one on the Wildwood boardwalk that closed as well. I took a photo of it in 2008:

https://flic.kr/p/5eVBJw

[Pikapower]

This question kind of flew into my mind regarding the soft serve ice cream machines at McDonald's, why do some McDonald's restaurants never fix the soft serve ice cream machine?

[retailisking]

Two of the three last "rogue" franchisees selling the '90s throwback have pulled the item from their menus
https://www.today.com/food/mcdonalds-mcpizza-only-available-one-location-t115920

[TheFugitive]

I remember ordering McPizza at the McDonalds in Delaware, Ohio.
I liked it.  But completion in the pizza business is brutal.

[JJBers]

My second closest McDonald's has the large "M" retro sign. The sign received major damage thanks to Hurricane Sandy, but surprisingly they replaced the whole sign with the only the Billions area being changed. Photo, post renovation:

Willimantic, Connecticut by JJBers, on Flickr
Here's the newly renovated location (It was just a mansard roof location before):

Willimantic, Connecticut by JJBers, on Flickr

I think it looks nice. The old roof was getting very old.

[giantsfan2016]

No details as to what it entails, but this article discusses what will replace the Dollar Menu.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-24/mcdonald-s-rolls-out-successor-to-dollar-menu-as-price-war-rages#ampshare=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-24/mcdonald-s-rolls-out-successor-to-dollar-menu-as-price-war-rages

[MikeinBuffalo]

McRib is back! They must have used half the bottle of BBQ sauce on mine...

[MikeinBuffalo]

Encouraged by success of the revamped Dollar Menu and the McRib, McDonalds is considering bringing back the ultra-fail Arch Deluxe to all restaurants...

http://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a57476/mcdonalds-bringing-back-90s-arch-deluxe-burger/

[Pikapower]

Encouraged by success of the revamped Dollar Menu and the McRib, McDonalds is considering bringing back the ultra-fail Arch Deluxe to all restaurants...

http://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a57476/mcdonalds-bringing-back-90s-arch-deluxe-burger/

Huh, I've haven't seen this one coming!

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The McDonald's Museum (where Ray Kroc opened his first franchise) in Des Plaines, Illinois, will be demolished:
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2018/07/25/mcdonalds-museum-still-stands-in-des-plaines-but.html

[TheFugitive]

The McDonalds in Mount Lebanon, PA is currently closed for remodeling.

This is one of the oldest locations I know of here in town.  I remember my parents
bringing me there as a kid in the 70's.   It had been remarkably unchanged since
that time.

The changes will be radical.  The mansard roof if gone, replaced by the current
boxier store design.  I can see track lighting and some very elaborate video boards
inside as I drive by.

I was not a fan when the local Burger King did a similar remodel and I am not crazy
about this.  I don't want my burger joint to be upscale and elegant.  I want it to bring
back good memories of sucking down grease in the 1970's.

Hopefully they can do something about the drive through, which was very tight.
Not sure if they can though.  The place is wedged pretty tight against a hillside.

[giantsfan2016]

Two McDonald's in CT owned by The Rodriquez family are being remodeled inside and out. - Corner of East and Maple in Plainville and the one on West Main in New Britain. The one at the corner of East and Maple has been a dump for a long time. They also have a lot of rude employees. I've heard  them using foul language and making racist remarks.

[Everything Community]

A unique mansard roofed McDonald's in Plainville, CT across from the AMC theatre that hasn't been remodeled yet!

[Everything Community]

A later version of the mansard roofed McDonald's w/o those stripes in Rockville, CT!

[deerwrecker2017]

The McDonald's location in Monongahela had just been remodeled too and the major changes that you will notice if you drive by it that the outside design is the boxier design that TheFugitive had mentioned regarding the Mount Lebanon location that he said was being remodeled at the time of his post. The last time that any real major changes we're ever this location happened back in 2000 when they just demolished the entire building and rebuilt it from the ground up.

[TheFugitive]

McDonalds is scaling back the size of the overnight menu.
A limited selection of things will now be available between midnight and 5AM.

https://www.kait8.com/2019/04/30/mcdonalds-is-reducing-items-available-late-night-menu/

Article hints that further menu revisions are coming.

[Everything Community]

Over "99" Billion Served

This sign was spotted at a McDonald's near I-84 (Tolland Turnpike) in Manchester, CT. A rare gem these days, they updated the amount of their hamburgers on their signs in prosperous growth of Mickey D's for a very number of years until those signs didn't fit enough to make it to a hundred.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Over "99" Billion Served

This sign was spotted at a McDonald's near I-84 (Tolland Turnpike) in Manchester, CT. A rare gem these days, they updated the amount of their hamburgers on their signs in prosperous growth of Mickey D's for a very number of years until those signs didn't fit enough to make it to a hundred.

The McDonald's locations in Madison, Wisconsin stopped counting after 90 billion.

[Retail Regents]

The McDonald's on Troy-Schenectady Rd. in Latham still hasn't been rebuilt or remodeled thankfully. First visited in 2017 and still looks the same as of 2019.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Has anyone here besides me tried any of the McDonald's international menu items?

[BillyGr]

The McDonald's on Troy-Schenectady Rd. in Latham still hasn't been rebuilt or remodeled thankfully. First visited in 2017 and still looks the same as of 2019.

The one a bit further south in Greenport (Hudson) NY is still this design as well.  They had been talking of building a new one on land next door where there was once a cleaners that burned down and an older house, with Aldi eventually taking some of the site as well but that has faded away as of recently - that's probably the main reason the current one has stayed as is longer than many have.

[Retail Regents]

The McDonald's on Troy-Schenectady Rd. in Latham still hasn't been rebuilt or remodeled thankfully. First visited in 2017 and still looks the same as of 2019.

The one a bit further south in Greenport (Hudson) NY is still this design as well.  They had been talking of building a new one on land next door where there was once a cleaners that burned down and an older house, with Aldi eventually taking some of the site as well but that has faded away as of recently - that's probably the main reason the current one has stayed as is longer than many have.

I still need to get down there, considering I need to see the finished EG Walgreens, plus the switching of storefronts down there in Greenport with Walgreens moving into the Eckerd/Rite Aid.

I don't know how ALDI could take that space, considering these new ones are quite large, such as in Ilion, which they built their new one next their old one, and it's MASSIVE.

[BillyGr]

The one a bit further south in Greenport (Hudson) NY is still this design as well.  They had been talking of building a new one on land next door where there was once a cleaners that burned down and an older house, with Aldi eventually taking some of the site as well but that has faded away as of recently - that's probably the main reason the current one has stayed as is longer than many have.

I still need to get down there, considering I need to see the finished EG Walgreens, plus the switching of storefronts down there in Greenport with Walgreens moving into the Eckerd/Rite Aid.

I don't know how ALDI could take that space, considering these new ones are quite large, such as in Ilion, which they built their new one next their old one, and it's MASSIVE.

I think the idea was that by combining the former cleaners site and the property that the house had (both of which probably go back a bit further than the current McDonalds), there would be enough room for the new McDonalds towards the right side and the new ALDI more towards where the current McDonalds is, with the space in the middle providing parking that could be used for either.

Of course, it wasn't too long after this was proposed that Price Chopper up the road closed up, and ShopRite from the plaza behind the Burger King across from McDonalds moved to the Price Chopper spot, leaving a larger empty building available.  That has also been mentioned as a possible spot for ALDI to move to, so that may be part of the holdup in any progress at the McDonalds site.

Not much else to see on the drugstores - Walgreens just moved into the Rite Aid (some remodeling inside, but outside not much beyond the name change (red Walgreens signs on the building, but they left the blue Pharmacy signs from Rite Aid and Walgreens plates for the Eckerd style road signs) and the (now) former Walgreens building left empty.  So far, they didn't even try to move the Walgreens road sign (which has a digital board on the bottom) to the Rite Aid site (which has just the older changeable letter boards).

[Everything Community]

The good ol' days where the old roof looked like a chip packet and the down tiles were the fries. Those McArches are going to soon be a thing of the past. Don't let the McBoxing fool you!

Depressed adults are making the happier kids feel sad.

[Retail Regents]

The good ol' days where the old roof looked like a chip packet and the down tiles were the fries. Those McArches are going to soon be a thing of the past. Don't let the McBoxing fool you!

Depressed adults are making the happier kids feel sad.

Aren't those depressed adults once the happy kids who use to hang out and play at those McArch locations? They're the ones who now work at those locations to pay off their tuition, and sulk about it on Reddit.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

In Wisconsin, there are two former Hardee's restaurants that are now McDonald's restaurants:
(Taken in summer 2018 by Google Street View)

Racine Street, Menasha, Wisconsin:


Regent Street, Madison, Wisconsin: