McDonald’s has been one of the most successful fast food chains in the world, with a huge variety of foods and services. It is the largest hamburger chain in the United States, and it operates more than 11,000 restaurants worldwide.
McDonald’s is known for its Big Macs, but the restaurant also offers a wide range of other foods including salads, sandwiches, wraps and desserts. Its success has been rooted in its relentless marketing efforts, which have helped it become an American icon and a symbol of globalization.
Early Years
In 1937 brothers Richard and Maurice (Dick and Mac) McDonald opened their first fast food restaurant in San Bernardino, California. They started with a single hot dog stand and, by 1947, had built it up to a full-service operation with a full menu of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, shakes and apple pie.
Their goal was to make it simple for customers to get their meals and give them a good value for the money. They also wanted to ensure that each worker took pride in his job and that it was done correctly.
Kroc, a traveling appliance salesman, was impressed with their operation and bought the franchise rights to open restaurants across the country. The first franchised McDonald’s restaurant, in Des Plaines, Illinois, opened on March 25, 1955.
The McDonald brothers soon figured out how to make their business as efficient as possible. They closed their carhop drive-ins to create a more streamlined, self-serve operation. This meant that customers could order their meal from an employee in the kitchen without having to walk through a carhop line.
This streamlined operation was the key to their success, as it attracted families instead of teenagers. It was also much less fattening than other fast-food restaurants, which often served large portions of French fries and soft drinks.
1950s-1960s
In the late 1950s, Kroc and his co-founder Harry Sonnenborn devised a financial model that would allow McDonald’s to own the land on which it could open new restaurants. The strategy would help McDonald’s control costs and reduce the risk of losing money, a critical issue at a time when the economy was struggling.
1960s-1970s
By the 1970s, McDonald’s was becoming a household name. Its advertising campaigns were innovative and memorable, promoting products such as the McDelivery service and the “You Deserve a Break Today” campaign.
It was also during the 1970s that McDonald’s pioneered breakfast fast food with the introduction of the Egg McMuffin. This became the company’s top-selling item and by 1987 one-fourth of all breakfasts in the United States were consumed at McDonald’s.
1980s-1990s
In addition to expanding its core hamburger business, McDonald’s began to explore a number of different avenues for growth. It began to acquire companies such as Chipotle (CMG) – Get Free Report and Boston Market, although it would later divest itself of these holdings.
1998-1999
In this decade, McDonald’s aggressively expands beyond its core business, acquiring companies such as Aroma Cafe and Donatos Pizza Inc. It also begins to rebrand itself as a more socially conscious corporation, opening up its restaurants to people of all races and nationalities.