McDonald's suffers worst U.S. sales decline since 2020

[safarimike11]

20 hours ago, placeholder said:

McDonald's reported its worst quarterly sales for the United States since the height of the pandemic in 2020, the latest restaurant chain to be affected by America's turbulent economic environment.

The burger giant reported U.S. same-store sales fell 3.6%, the largest three-month drop since Q2 2020, when they plunged 8.7%. Forecasts had been for a decline of just 1.7%.

"Consumers today are grappling with uncertainty," McDonald's Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement, as the chain cited lower guest counts.

"Consumers today are grappling with uncertainty," McDonald's Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement, as the chain cited lower guest counts.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/mcdonalds-us-sales-drop-pandemic-middle-income-consumers-pull-back-rcna204032

 

In completely unrelated news, RFK Jr pops open a bottle of champagne. Or would have if that stuff wasn't POISON!

And of course, this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that burger-flippers in California are now earning $19.25 an hour (almost $40k per year)?

[SLOWHAND225]

So in the end their automated employees were not such a hit

[Cameroni]

MacDonalds is now a real estate company. They make most of their money from leasing the land they own to their franchisees , as BritManToo has posted above.

 

https://www.wallstreetsurvivor.com/mcdonalds-beyond-the-burger/

 

However, even fi they only sell burgers to attract the people for their real estate business, one has to look at the quality of those burgers. Burger King's bacon double cheeseburger is better than than the Big Mac, and there are now a myriad of competitors who are all miles better than MacD, Shakeshack comes to mind, but many others. Even RockMe Burger in Chiang Mai is lightyears ahead of McD in terms of quality.

 

The 100% price increase didn't help either I guess.

[Felton Jarvis]

Garbage food. A richly deserved decline. I would like to think that people are waking up but I know better. Consumer memory is a very fleeting thing, much like voter memory.

[Iron Tongue]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Big Mac  in TH ... ฿149 / $4.50  ( ฿235 / $7.09 )

 

"Big Macs in the United States cost around $5.15 a sandwich. The price does vary depending on the US region, so the Big Mac Index is an average of all the United States" - source, link below

 

 

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/big-mac-index-by-state

 

High & Low price by country ...

... In Switzerland, a Big Mac costs $6.71 

... Venezuela only charges $1.76 per Big Mac

 

 

 

 

In Bay Area, California, Big Macs are $7.49

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Tug said:

We’re have you been the last 30 years lol you would have to go East of Livermore to find space to the east south of Monterey to the south and north of Vallejo….nay Fairfield to find open space to the north never mind the commute!!oh and Mobil homes now cost N of 150 k before installation (lower priced ones)all that being said McDonald’s is grossly overpriced lousy food.

I don't think homeless people need to commute!

 

As for homes, my 3 bed house (poured concrete) cost $20k to construct, not sure why a mobile 1/2 it's size would cost more.

 

But if you look on temu, China is building them very cheap.

 

Just looked on Google maps, north of SF all emply land.

 

One of the problems about forums, people that know nothing about anything can post any stuff they like and appear to be reasonably intelligent.

 

Then they out themselves by not knowing McDonald's sells franchises and rents property to make money. Now we have another one that thinks the cost of a home is related to the labour and materials, but in reality it's all about government policy, and easily confirmed by just looking around you in Thailand. No planning policy, so no corruption required to build even though they use real materials, and not pine and sheet like in the USA.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, safarimike11 said:

And of course, this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that burger-flippers in California are now earning $19.25 an hour (almost $40k per year)?

Spot on.   What use to be an entry level, first job experience (now career), paying minimum wage (fed) of <$8.00, has doubled.    Those places that relied on late teens,  retirees, earning a bit or supplementing their in , with unskilled, low salaries to be competitive, no longer can be competitive, when covering overhead.

 

That snowballed to other skilled business that started at more than minimum wage, and increased with your knowledge, training and certification, also had to raise their wages to get employees.

 

Apply to learn a trade, with job  that offers $10 or $12 to start, and you think why bother, when I can flip burgers for $15, now $17.  Short sighted, but when young & dumb.

 

It's a good thing salaries went up, but for unskilled, non career positions is a bit silly.   All that adds to inflation.   Now that you earn more money, we can charge more the basic living needs.   Thank Biden & Dems ... 

 

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McDonald's announced it would raise wages at its company-owned restaurants, with the average hourly wage increasing to $13, and some locations reaching $15 an hour later in 2021. The company's plan was for average hourly wages to reach $15 by 2024. Additionally, the entry-level wage for new employees was increased to a range of $11 to $17 per hour

[impulse]

5 hours ago, Iron Tongue said:

Here's a screenshot of a McDonald's menu near me in California.  

This is the reason why MickyD's revenue is dropping.  It was once a place a family of four could grab a quick & cheap meal.  Nowadays, a family making US$100,000 can no longer afford to eat there.

 

I never thought I'd live to see the day that McDonalds was an expensive indulgence.

 

 

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

I never thought I'd live to see the day that McDonalds was an expensive indulgence.

I never thought I'd live to see the day when Trump, Biden And Kamala were the best presidential candidates the USA would have to offer.

[Prubangboy]

Another take:

 

Ground beef (minced meat in the Britosphere) is such garbage that you probably shouldn't touch a burger below $15. Fast food burgers always smell a bit like sweat to me . And the French fries are dead useless. Even at the new price, it's unrealistic to expect much. I had the Burger King fake meat burger and it tasted better than meat one.

 

On Tuesdays, Oskars on Soi 11 has a wagyu burger for 400 baht. With little dollops of deep-fried mash potatoes on the side.

 

Once in a while, I will have the wagyu on the El Gaucho Steakhouse Tuesday special -great, but Oskar's is among the best meat and steaks I have eaten anywhere.. Yes, it's madness to be grinding up wagyu for hamburgers (assuming it's really wagyu). 

 

In New York, a burger that's mostly from short ribs is the gold standard. 

[Gottfrid]

Expected when a lunatic is rowing the boat!

 

 

[Tug]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I don't think homeless people need to commute!

 

As for homes, my 3 bed house (poured concrete) cost $20k to construct, not sure why a mobile 1/2 it's size would cost more.

 

But if you look on temu, China is building them very cheap.

 

Just looked on Google maps, north of SF all emply land.

 

One of the problems about forums, people that know nothing about anything can post any stuff they like and appear to be reasonably intelligent.

 

Then they out themselves by not knowing McDonald's sells franchises and rents property to make money. Now we have another one that thinks the cost of a home is related to the labour and materials, but in reality it's all about government policy, and easily confirmed by just looking around you in Thailand. No planning policy, so no corruption required to build even though they use real materials, and not pine and sheet like in the USA.

I’m intimately familiar with the Bay Area I’ve lived there owned a home there.I’ve delt with the hell commute for years.I’ve also bought and sold mobile homes several in fact.I am also intimately familiar with the pricing prep and installation of said homes.the last one cost me 14k just for the foundation and septic.in the sandiego area if you want to buy raw land and build you will have 45k in permits and taxes before you even start construction…..one of the problems with these forums is some folks are a bit ill informed and assume a bit to much.and Macdonalds food sucks at any price.

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, Tug said:

I’m intimately familiar with the Bay Area I’ve lived there owned a home there.I’ve delt with the hell commute for years.I’ve also bought and sold mobile homes several in fact.I am also intimately familiar with the pricing prep and installation of said homes.the last one cost me 14k just for the foundation and septic.in the sandiego area if you want to buy raw land and build you will have 45k in permits and taxes before you even start construction…..one of the problems with these forums is some folks are a bit ill informed and assume a bit to much.and Macdonalds food sucks at any price.

So you're agreeing with me!

Permits and taxes are government policy to prevent building.

[jas007]

I can count on two or three fingers the number of McDonald's I've eaten at in the past 10 years, and even on those occasions, it was only for a cup of coffee and an Egg McMuffin.  I'm not sure I can remember the last time I had a Big Mac or fries.  Maybe 25 years ago when I was driving across the SW USA on some interstate and there was a McDonald's.  A huge restaurant and probably the only restaurant for 100 miles in either direction.  I didn't have much choice.  I was really hungry. 

 

Usually, if I'm trying to eat that kind of food, there'll be a Wendy's around somewhere, which I like better, or some other burger joint.  Burger King, Whataburger, Carl's Jr., Hardee's, etc.  

[Tug]

Just now, BritManToo said:

So you're agreeing with me!

Permits and taxes are government policy to prevent building.

They had an earthquake in port a prince a few years back 200,000+ dead we had a quake of the same magnitude in Los Angeles 37 deaths ….the Myanmar quake recently is another example ……my point is the permits and inspections do actually have a benefit.streamlining it and cutting costs would certainly be beneficial (done carefully and with competence)I’m referring to the sylmar quake.

[save the frogs]

13 hours ago, Felton Jarvis said:

Garbage food. A richly deserved decline. I would like to think that people are waking up but I know better. Consumer memory is a very fleeting thing, much like voter memory.

 

It's the scam of the century.

In the photos, the burgers look thick and juicy, but they're paper thin. 

Someone should sue them for fake photoshopped photos of their burgers.

There's a bunch of ma and pa burger places that actually do thick nice proper burgers.

McDonald's are the biggest criminals in the food industry. 

Used to be cheap, now charging a lot for paper thin tasteless burgers. 

 

Try removing the burger patties from the sandwich and taking a bite. It tastes like sawdust. 

 

 

[candide]

46 minutes ago, Prubangboy said:

Another take:

 

Ground beef (minced meat in the Britosphere) is such garbage that you probably shouldn't touch a burger below $15. Fast food burgers always smell a bit like sweat to me . And the French fries are dead useless. Even at the new price, it's unrealistic to expect much. I had the Burger King fake meat burger and it tasted better than meat one.

 

On Tuesdays, Oskars on Soi 11 has a wagyu burger for 400 baht. With little dollops of deep-fried mash potatoes on the side.

 

Once in a while, I will have the wagyu on the El Gaucho Steakhouse Tuesday special -great, but Oskar's is among the best meat and steaks I have eaten anywhere.. Yes, it's madness to be grinding up wagyu for hamburgers (assuming it's really wagyu). 

 

In New York, a burger that's mostly from short ribs is the gold standard. 

I avoid ground/minced meat when I can, as I cannot see the meat used: burgers, lasagna, fake bolognese, chlili con carne, shepherd's pie, larb moo, etc....

[BritManToo]

31 minutes ago, Tug said:

They had an earthquake in port a prince a few years back 200,000+ dead we had a quake of the same magnitude in Los Angeles 37 deaths ….the Myanmar quake recently is another example ……my point is the permits and inspections do actually have a benefit.streamlining it and cutting costs would certainly be beneficial (done carefully and with competence)I’m referring to the sylmar quake.

But not required for a $10,000 prebuilt modular home.

[EVENKEEL]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I don't think homeless people need to commute!

 

As for homes, my 3 bed house (poured concrete) cost $20k to construct, not sure why a mobile 1/2 it's size would cost more.

 

But if you look on temu, China is building them very cheap.

 

Just looked on Google maps, north of SF all emply land.

 

One of the problems about forums, people that know nothing about anything can post any stuff they like and appear to be reasonably intelligent.

 

Then they out themselves by not knowing McDonald's sells franchises and rents property to make money. Now we have another one that thinks the cost of a home is related to the labour and materials, but in reality it's all about government policy, and easily confirmed by just looking around you in Thailand. No planning policy, so no corruption required to build even though they use real materials, and not pine and sheet like in the USA.

I recently lost a home on 20 acres in CA. USA to fire. I bought a 810 sq ft 2 bd 2 bath mobile. Cost was $100,000USD  It was a demo model. 

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I recently lost a home on 20 acres in CA. USA to fire. I bought a 810 sq ft 2 bd 2 bath mobile. Cost was $100,000USD  It was a demo model. 

Must be those damned tariffs

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, Tug said:

I’m intimately familiar with the Bay Area I’ve lived there owned a home there.I’ve delt with the hell commute for years.I’ve also bought and sold mobile homes several in fact.I am also intimately familiar with the pricing prep and installation of said homes.the last one cost me 14k just for the foundation and septic.in the sandiego area if you want to buy raw land and build you will have 45k in permits and taxes before you even start construction…..one of the problems with these forums is some folks are a bit ill informed and assume a bit to much.and Macdonalds food sucks at any price.

There's a big difference in MH regulations in CA. On whether it's in a park or on bare land. I recently replaced a 2 bd 2 bath mobile which burned in a grass fire. With another 2 bd 2 bath mobile. Septic improvement adding 1 more leach line $8000. Inspection was $800. And then the permit fee.

 

Run 140 ft water line and elect from pump to pole to MH was another $8000.  The pole replacement was close to $6000.

 

If the well hadn't survived. Around 50K for new one.

 

Permits took 2 months. A big nightmare.

 

Oh and then Fire Dept gets involved with drive way rules.

[Tug]

Sorry for your loss mariner I hope your insurance helped blessings and fair winds and following seas.

[EVENKEEL]

45 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Must be those damned tariffs

No. Covid is one culprit. Everyone is just taking advantage. 

[impulse]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

So you're agreeing with me!

Permits and taxes are government policy to prevent building.

 

To the extent that the taxes represent the prorated cost of connecting a homesite to the power, water, roads and sewers, fair dinkum.  But when they start adding fees for "environmental impacts" and others, that's when they prevent building.  All that vacant land north of SF?  It'll cost a big fortune to get water, sewer, roads and power up there, and that's if they even have spare water to allocate.  Which California probably doesn't.

 

I'm sitting on a vacant lot in East Texas that I bought on EBay for peanuts.  But if I want to build, I have to pay a sewer connection fee, a water connection fee and a power pole connection fee.  That's about 20x what I paid for the lot.  Still cheap in the scheme of things, but I'll probably end up selling it to one of my "neighbors" who may want a bigger yard (and who, according to GIS satellites, have encroached on my lot).

 

[Nick Carter icp]

23 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

... and Trump would say it's Biden's fault.

 

   Biden was President in the timespan of when the figures were taken 

[BritManToo]

22 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

To the extent that the taxes represent the prorated cost of connecting a homesite to the power, water, roads and sewers, fair dinkum.  But when they start adding fees for "environmental impacts" and others, that's when they prevent building.  All that vacant land north of SF?  It'll cost a big fortune to get water, sewer, roads and power up there, and that's if they even have spare water to allocate.  Which California probably doesn't.

 

I'm sitting on a vacant lot in East Texas that I bought on EBay for peanuts.  But if I want to build, I have to pay a sewer connection fee, a water connection fee and a power pole connection fee.  That's about 20x what I paid for the lot.  Still cheap in the scheme of things, but I'll probably end up selling it to one of my "neighbors" who may want a bigger yard (and who, according to GIS satellites, have encroached on my lot).

 

Solar power and batteries, dig a well, bury a septic tank.

Homelessness is government policy!

Fully independent, Zero carbon footprint, can't get any greener.

[impulse]

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Solar power and batteries, dig a well, buy a septic tank.

Homelessness is government policy!

 

Before you buy a septic tank, you should do a perc test.  You may need 20 acres and a $100,000 leaching field if you're trying to build on rocks.

 

It's complicated.

 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Before you buy a septic tank, you should do a perc test.  You may need 20 acres and a $100,000 leaching field if you're trying to build on rocks.

 

It's complicated.

 

Just imagine how hard it must have been for those first settlers!

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

There's a big difference in MH regulations in CA. On whether it's in a park or on bare land. I recently replaced a 2 bd 2 bath mobile which burned in a grass fire. With another 2 bd 2 bath mobile. Septic improvement adding 1 more leach line $8000. Inspection was $800. And then the permit fee.

 

Run 140 ft water line and elect from pump to pole to MH was another $8000.  The pole replacement was close to $6000.

 

If the well hadn't survived. Around 50K for new one.

 

Permits took 2 months. A big nightmare.

 

Oh and then Fire Dept gets involved with drive way rules.

leach line .... 8k

inspect  ... 0.8k

water line ... 8k

pole replace ... 6k

Total 22.8k ... cost more than my 1st house in TH, which sat on 1 rai.

 

If ever, (never), I'd be a nomadic RV living free spirit.  That place really is getting silly over there.