Word: europeanate
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...British employers' organization, the CBI. In the meantime, British holidaymakers used to vacationing in France or Spain are making plans for breaks closer to home. Outside the Bank of England, which moved to its present central London site in 1734, one oil-industry worker with a fondness for European travel says he'll "just sit tight" until the pound gets stronger again. Behind him, the city's buses shuttle workers home, with posters on their sides trumpeting the latest movie releases: Slumdog Millionaire, Seven Pounds, The Broken. They almost read like signs of the times...
There was a time not so long ago when U.S. fast-food giant McDonald's was viewed by European consumers as the advance scout of what the French loudly decried as American cultural imperialism. The Golden Arches, ran the prevailing European line, were a threat to the Continent's refined palates and appreciation of the civilized sit-down meal, and the livelihoods of people staffing "real" restaurants. Well, with the global economic crisis deepening, even the French aren't complaining nowadays - especially with news that McDonald's plans to invest more than $1 billion to keep its lucrative European business...
...billion - more than half its total global investment funding in 2009 - to revamp scores of existing restaurants in Europe and open 240 new ones there. That effort will not only focus on relatively new markets in Eastern Europe like Russia and Poland, but also sink roots deeper in West European nations like Italy, Spain and France - generating about 12,000 badly needed new jobs in the process. As part of that expansion plan, McDonald's says it will add about 400 new McCafés to the 800 outlets it already operates in Europe. Viewed from any angle, this kind...
...McDonald's largest region in revenue terms. Although Europe has nearly 25% fewer outlets than the U.S., in 2007 its $9 billion in revenue outpaced the $8 billion generated in America, partly because of a strong euro but also because of consistently higher sales. Given that, McDonald's new European investment strategy seems quite clear: provide its operations in Europe a boost by multiplying the number of restaurants capable of serving clients there. And ironically, a swiftly tightening recession may be the best environment in which that can be done. (See the top 10 food trends...
...wouldn't the billion-dollar expansion drive of McDonald's suggest that the company is seeking to lure more time- and cash-strapped European clients as frequent diners? If so, Berger says the objective may well prove elusive - at least among continental Europeans. "People will make concessions to time pressures when necessary for convenience's sake, but will often reserve evening and weekend meals for quality, sit-down, often homemade food," he says. "The British are a bit different in that regard - which may be why the U.K. seems to be a particularly strong market for McDonald...