Word: mcdonald
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...pricing of McDonald's, highlighted by dollar-menu items like apple pies, side salads and yogurt, plus cheap combo meals - burger or sandwich, fries and a drink - is a key strength during the recession. In particular, consumers are fleeing casual, family chain restaurants for the convenience and savings of fast food. (Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, and Burger King have also seen sales growth, though at smaller levels than McDonald's.) Casual-dining joints are reeling: P.F. Chang's and the Cheesecake Factory, for example, saw their third-quarter 2008 profits fall...
...economy is not the only reason people are drawn to McDonald's. The company's management also deserves credit for its success. Back in 2003, America's obesity epidemic was a hot topic, and McDonald's suffered from the backlash. For the first time in its 47-year history, the company saw a quarterly loss. Its stock was down to $12 a share. You couldn't just blame bad p.r. for the company's woes. Stale food and tired stores also kept people away. "McDonald's was actively dissuading customers from coming back," says John Glass, a Morgan Stanley analyst...
...Since that time, McDonald's and its franchises have remodeled 11,000 stores (there are now 31,000 locations around the globe). At a spruced-up restaurant in the Bronx one weekday evening, Brian Waters, a mailman, sat with his 9-year-old son in a booth. The bright dining area featured abstract paintings of New York City's bridges and the Statue of Liberty. "It used to be dark and drab in here," Waters says. "Now it's nice and clean. I don't mind sitting here anymore." Stores have also extended hours: 34% of the company...
...salads were added. The company changed its coffee blend; coffee sales have soared 70% over the past two years. Chicken McNuggets now consist solely of white meat, which has less fat and fewer calories than the darker-meat mix of old. When she first started taking her son to McDonald's, Angelica Orzco, a security guard in New York City, wouldn't touch the stuff herself. But these days she's a regular burger eater. "The beef was very greasy," she says. "Now it's much better...
...Like any other business in this environment, McDonald's faces some potential roadblocks. It's rolling out a specialty coffee menu, called McCafe, which will include vanilla lattes and mochas. "It's not the best time to roll out a premium beverage product," Glass notes. As the recession wears on, fast-food-service growth may flatten out; plus, McDonald's can expect more price competition. For example, Steak 'n Shake, the diner-style burger chain in 21 states throughout the Midwest and South, is promoting four different meal combos for less than $4. "In Los Angeles, every other billboard...