Word: mcdonald
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Four-year-old Kevin White of Richmond, Calif., is enjoying that all-American event, a birthday party at McDonald's. Wearing a Ronald McDonald birthday hat and clutching a fistful of French fries, he gets ready to whisk down the slide in the restaurant's kiddy playground, while his mother Cynthia stands by with envy. "One day I hope that Kevin will appreciate my cooking," she says. "But for now, I can't even compete with a Big Mac and fries...
...able to compete, but a burgeoning number of entrepreneurs think they can. Americans are eating out more than ever, and more than ever they are eating fast food. Since Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's in a Chicago suburb back in 1955 (burgers: 15¢), fast food has grown to a $45 billion business. The increase from ten years ago is nearly fourfold. From burgers to fried chicken to pizza, fast food has become the quintessentially American dining experience: a perfect expression of those bedrock values of efficiency, thriftiness and speed...
...industry's top dogs, McDonald's and Burger King, are also moving to expand their menus, though more cautiously. "Our menu is meat and potatoes. That's been the staple of the American diet for two centuries," says Ed Rensi, chief operations officer of McDonald's, which serves 6% of the American population every day. Yet McDonald's has given nonbeef eaters a break with its popular Chicken McNuggets, which have been widely imitated, and the company is testmarketing a prepackaged salad...
...McDonald's has also staked out the newest fast-food battleground: breakfast. Since introducing its Egg McMuffin (a muffin sandwich containing eggs, Canadian bacon and cheese) in 1976, the chain has seen its breakfast business grow to 19.5% of total sales. Last March Burger King introduced a competitor, the Croissan'wich, and promoted it with a saturation TV ad campaign. Most other chains have now added at least some breakfast items, from French-toast sticks at Arby's to an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at some generous Roy Rogers outlets...
...much diversity on the menu can backfire, according to industry executives. McDonald's had a notable flop with its McRib sandwich a couple of years ago, and other chains have hurt their service and lost customers by adding too many new items. "A lot of restaurants make the mistake of adding haphazardly until no one knows what they are," says Pizza Hut Spokesman Mike Jenkins. "We try not to forget that we are a pizza restaurant." Maintaining an identity is important, especially since most analysts regard the field as overcrowded and predict a shakeout in the next few years...