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Mcdonald's Food Fight Essay

Decent Essays

no. 1-0049

Food Fight: The Day McDonald’s Blinked
Jack Greenberg, CEO and Chairman of McDonald’s smiled as he walked to the podium to summarize the first quarter results for 2000. The market had already reacted that morning to McDonald’s 12% increase in earnings, sending the stock up 8 percent. After almost no stock increase in 1999 and a 15% drop since the beginning of the year, Jack was happy to have some good news. More importantly, the $180M investment in the Made for You cooking program was finally in place with significant improvements both in food quality and service speed. After decades of spectacular growth, McDonald’s had become an American icon and the world’s most ubiquitous restaurant. Starting as a hot dog stand, the …show more content…

West Lebanon was a small city of just under 13,000 in the western part of the state, just across the river from Vermont. The community’s Main Street still held a relatively healthy share of retail stores and commercial space, but the construction of one of New Hampshire’s two major interstates half a mile away had siphoned off most growth since the early 1970s and channeled it into a series of strip mall developments. The stores and restaurants lining the strip counted on a year-round influx of consumers from nearby Vermont and seasonal tourists interested in New Hampshire’s tax-free shopping opportunities. Weary shoppers who wanted a chance to stop and refuel could do so quickly and inexpensively at their choice of more than a dozen fast food and family-style restaurants along the one-mile strip. McDonald’s and Burger King sat next to each other on this strip. The McDonald’s store was among the busiest in the region and, in fact, boasted the highest sales volume of any McDonald’s restaurant in New England. It was situated on a corner, facing a large retail plaza, and separated from its closest neighbor, Burger King, by a tall picket fence. Abutting Burger King’s other side was a Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s was less than half a block away. Both McDonald’s and Burger King were decorated with the adult consumer in mind. Unlike many McDonald’s restaurants, the West Lebanon facility had no children’s play area, such as a Playland or PlayPlace. The interior was mostly done in

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