In a move that bucks the trend of shrinking companies and corporate cost cutting, this fast-food giant has unveiled plans for a $2-Billion U.S. expansion, including opening more than 1,000 new restaurants globally including 165 in North America.
Record numbers of customers walked through the doors of McDonald’s outlets during the fourth quarter, with the average number of daily visitors topping 58 million at its 31,000 outlets by the end of 2008. These numbers suggest that each store serves 1,800 customers on any given day.
One problem the company faces is the higher cost of dairy products. McDonald’s has had to cut corners to keep prices down, knowing that its cheap fare is very important in getting customers into their outlets and coming back regularly. In an effort to maintain costs at present levels, McDonald’s took one of the two slices of processed cheese out of its double cheeseburger to keep the burger on the value menu. Raising the price would have hurt sales of one of its most popular sandwiches, which accounts for almost 14% of its revenue, and a key weapon against other restaurants in this economic downturn.
Look for McDonald’s to remain profitable as they continue the marketing of inexpensive coffee & muffins as part of its recession strategy, in a bid to woo customers away from the higher-end fast food chains..
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…..Doug T
