Free Republic

I saw a sad but not totally unexpected news item from John Hawkins this morning regarding one of America’s premiere dining outlets… McDonald’s. The House That Ronald Built has fallen on hard times, with some estimates indicating that a significant portion of the franchises are currently insolvent or seriously in the red. The dire warnings from franchise owners are including phrases such as, “these are the final days.” (Yahoo News) McDonald’s franchisees believe the brand is in a “deep depression” and could be facing its “final days,” according to a new survey.“We are in the throes of a deep depression,...

RUSH: In the last couple or three days I have been reading more and more stories about how much trouble McDonald's is in that they may not make it. It's gotten to the point now where McDonald's may not make it. And the last story that I have here is from Business Insider, and the headline is, "McDonald's Franchisees Say the Brand Is in a Deep Depression and Is Facing its Final Days." And everybody is trying to figure out what happened. You know, McDonald's dates back to -- well, in its current iteration -- the mid-sixties. It wasn't Ray...

McDonald's franchisees believe the brand is in a "deep depression" and could be facing its "final days," according to a new survey. "We are in the throes of a deep depression, and nothing is changing," one franchisee wrote in response to the survey by Nomura analyst Mark Kalinowski. "Probably 30% of operators are insolvent."

Since McDonald's launched an all-day breakfast menu last week, a number of their franchisees are not 'lovin' it' and say it has been a nightmare. Franchisees say that serving breakfast all-day has slowed down service, lowered average bills and sparked utter chaos in the restaurant giant's kitchens. Twenty-nine operators overseeing 226 different locations in the US were surveyed by Mark Kalinowski, an analyst for the Japanese finance company Nomura. He found that since the new menu items were added last Tuesday, many of the franchisees were struggling. 'In small stores, the problems are vast with people falling over each other...

McDonald's franchisees say the company's all-day breakfast launch has been a nightmare. The new menu is slowing down service, reducing average ticket costs, and causing chaos in the kitchens, franchisees told Nomura analyst Mark Kalinowski in a new survey. "In small stores, the problems are vast with people falling over each other and equipment jammed in everywhere," one franchisee wrote in response to the survey.

Social welfare groups have raised concerns about the lack of support for people living on the fringes of society Police are trying to confirm the identity of a homeless woman who was found dead in a 24-hour McDonald’s outlet at a public housing estate in Kowloon Bay yesterday morning. The case has raised concern among social welfare groups about the lack of support for people living on the fringes of society. The woman, aged around 50 to 60 years, was found slumped over her table in a quiet corner, 24 hours after she entered the restaurant at Ping Shek Estate,...

A Chicago McDonald’s employee who closed the register during the dinner rush to help a disabled customer is being praised by the fast food chain.

McDonald’s has gathered a number of like-minded organizations to raise money to help the United Nations’ food program respond to the migrant crisis in Europe and the Middle East. McDonald’s, along with companies like DreamWorks Animation, MasterCard and Facebook, will donate paid television airtime or access to digital media to promote the World Food Program, including through the use of a 30-second animated commercial narrated by the actor Liam Neeson.

Some people have waited their entire lives for it, and Egg McMuffin lovers and McGriddle connoisseurs from coast to coast rejoiced when McDonald’s announced it would offer its delicious breakfast options from opening until closing beginning Oct. 6. What could be better than a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit for dinner? Brilliant, right? Not everyone thinks so. Leave it to the liberal blue meanies at Vox.com to analyze McDonald’s decision and debate the “ramifications.” Vox proudly posted its Mickey-D musings on Twitter, and warned social media users that the restaurant chain’s decision to expand its menu options could stem from that “evil” thing called capitalism. That’s right, one...

While it seems liberals may think that raising the minimum wage will raise living standards for poor Americans, they should have seen this coming. With Los Angeles joining Seattle in setting a $15 minimum wage (Los Angeles by 2020, and Seattle by 2021), it stands to reason that McDonald’s would find a way around simply paying workers more, as Vox pointed out the obvious fact that “the reality is that McDonald’s just wants to make money.” Read more: http://www.bizpacreview.com/2015/09/08/mcjobless-in-seattle-as-order-screens-arrive-labor-day-reality-check-for-15-minimum-wage-249245#ixzz3lC5wR0te

McDonald’s has launched a limited edition “Irish” burger, called the McMór. A Sinn Féin MLA has branded it “partitionist” because it will only be available in the Republic of Ireland. The fast food chain has called the burger, which will only be available for six weeks, a “tribute to the best produce and the finest flavors from across Ireland.” The McMór, which McDonald’s is marketing as Gaelic for Big Mac, is made with 100% Irish beef, a “potato-flaked” bun, bacon, shredded cabbage, kale, Ballymaloe Relish and Charleville Cheddar, the Belfast Telegraph reports. West Tyrone MLA Barry McElduff told the Irish...

Three teenagers and a 20-year-old woman have been arrested on charges of attacking a 16-year-old McDonald's worker who was pulled out of a drive-through window at the LaPlace restaurant and beaten. Video surveillance and witnesses to the Aug. 26 attack led authorities to the suspects, the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's office said Wednesday (Sept. 2). Kailin Holland, 17, of Harvey was booked with second-degree battery and released on a $10,000 bond. Misdemeanor summonses for simple battery were issued to Sierra Gregoire, 18, and a 16-year-old juvenile, both of LaPlace, and Bradnika Gregoire, 20, of Reserve was issued a...

If you're one of those people who hates missing the end of breakfast hours at McDonald's, hang on just a little longer: the chain says its breakfast menu will be available all day starting Oct. 6. Items like Egg McMuffins, hotcakes, sausage burritos, fruit 'n yogurt parfaits, hash browns and biscuits will be available anytime, although the exact menu will vary in different markets. The company said core items like the Big Mac, McNuggets and fries will still be available at all of its locations.

Burger King has offered McDonald’s a golden opportunity to come together and make one burger to rule them all — in the name of world peace, of course.In full-page ads running Wednesday in The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune – the hometown paper of the Illinois-based McDonald’s – the fast-food chain is proposing the “McWhopper,” a hybrid of each company’s signature Big Mac and Whopper burgers that will be sold for one day in one pop-up store in one city.That city, Burger King is proposing, would be Atlanta, a meeting point between both company’s headquarters. The marketing...

From Allstate, CME Group and McDonald's to Motorola Mobility and Walgreens Boots Alliance, it's hard to think of a big company in metro Chicago that's not cutting head office staff. Corporate headquarters operations that created good jobs for generations of Chicagoans have turned into drivers of unemployment in recent years. Total headcount at Chicago's 10 biggest companies fell 5.6 percent last year. And data from Chicago outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas show big, locally based companies contributing an outsized share of nearly 90,000 layoffs in Illinois since 2013. Kraft Heinz joined the parade on Aug. 12, cutting 700 of...

McDonald’s plans to shrink by 59 locations this year in the US, the first time in at least 45 years that the fast food restaurant has closed more US stores than it has opened, as the company cuts costs and tries to revive sales. The world’s biggest restaurant chain has not reduced the net number of its US stores since at least 1970, according to a previous Associated Press review of McDonald's regulatory filings.

Iowa high school science teacher John Cisna weighed 280 pounds and wore a size 51 pants. Then he started eating at McDonalds. Every meal. Every day. For 180 days. By the end of his experiment, Cisna was down to a relatively svelte 220 and could slip into a size 36. Cisna, who is Birmingham today and Wednesday to speak at a rally for area McDonald's managers, earned a new nickname, too. "In all those (previous) years, my nickname with my buddies was 'Snack Bar,''' Cisna said. "You know what they call me now? 'Snack Bar Jr.'" What turned out to...

Link only: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/higher-wages-a-surprising-success-for-seattle-restaurant/

OAK BROOK, Ill., July 22 (UPI) -- Late wakers and breakfast lovers may have something to celebrate: McDonalds is in talks to offer an all-day breakfast menu as soon as October. At approximately 10:30 a.m., most locations of the American fast-food chain switch over their menus so lunch and guests can no longer order hash browns and McGriddles past the cut off time. But according to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal, the extension customers have been requesting all along may be granted. According to Business Insider, the company started testing out the all-day menu at a few locations...

The Golden Arches are looking a little less shiny this year and McDonald’s franchise owners see hard times coming. This time it has nothing to do with the raging national debate over whether or not the McRib is awesome or awful, however. The vast majority of their fast food outlets are not owned by the corporation, but by franchise operators. Those entrepreneurs are regularly polled about their outlook for the coming year and most of them aren’t putting on their happy faces. (From CNBC) Just when you thought it couldn’t get much worse for McDonald’s, it did.The six-month outlook...