WHEN OLD MCDONALD’S TRADES UP TO THE NEW LUXURY
An unusual topic for me but one that had some ironic cultural resonance.
On the outskirts of wealthy St. Charles, Illinois a new McDonald’s has opened. So what ?
This McDonald’s looks more like a retro-high-tech cafe in Manhattan or a Caribou coffee designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Employees are dressed in sleek black with gold ties and bring you your order to your table along with latte’s served in designer ceramic cups. Your waiter hands you a dessert menu as you tap away on your laptop using the free wi-fi service. A 6’x 6′ flat screen, suspended, semi- transparent, TV has the latest game on as the sound system softly pipes in clubbing music to the art deco interior the has comfortable chairs. Even the cooks are dressed like chefs. Everyone spoke English and engaged in a friendly, pro-active, manner with the customers ( at this point I began to believe that I had accidentally driven through a mysterious time-dilation portal into a bizarro-world, alternate, universe).
The location is the brainchild of Chicago entrepreneur David Bear, who has embraced the marketing strategy of ” New Luxury” in order to compete with service and quality offered at places like Panera and Asiago favored by upper-middle-class suburban professionals.
Business, I noted, was extremely brisk. Instead of looking and sounding like a zoo or bus station, like most McDonald’s, the atmosphere was very pleasant and the children present, and there were many, were all well behaved and quiet.
Ray Kroc’s dream has come full circle.
March 7th, 2005 at 1:23 am
McDonald’s has been trying to figure out what business it’s in for some time now. Their track record on this hasn’t been that great lately.
March 7th, 2005 at 5:21 am
Hi Dave
Agreed. This wasn’t the corporation’s doing however but the franchisee’s personal gamble – not a bad one since the homes across the road, Red Gate, run up to around 800k.
While the food was the same the atmosphere was a lot more pleasant and interesting.
March 7th, 2005 at 5:58 pm
I really doubt it. McDonald’s has very stringent franchise standards that govern decor, staff uniforms, signage, etc. Failure to conform would be a violation of the franchise agreement. They’d come down on him like a ton of bricks.
A more likely explanation is that this is a trial operation that has corporate’s support.
March 7th, 2005 at 6:22 pm
Well, as you know, corporate is out in our area as well. Bear ( or his family) owns ten McDonald’s franchises already, so I imagine he’s viewed as a trusted figure by the big suits.
March 8th, 2005 at 4:49 pm
Just give me a freakin’ burger…without brown lettuce or white tomato