McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

[cjd]

...whereas McD's requires its interiors to be uniform to its standards, Wendys and BK in many cases will allow local operators to design their own interiors, as long as it fits their image.

This wasn't the case until they started doing the rebuilds. One of the McDonald's annual reports from the early 1970s specifically talked about how local operators could design their dining rooms differently, and over the years that's created some elaborate and interesting themes.

Despite some additional items I've seen sold at McDonald's over the years, they've been pretty strict with the menu itself though.

My family moved around a lot during the 1980s and we often stopped at McDonald's while traveling around the country. A lot of McDonald's locations, going as far back as at least the 1980s, had similar layouts but also featured localized themes. Some locations highlighted local high schools/colleges/universities. Some highlighted local attractions and scenery. Some also featured historical photos, including previous pictures of older locations. In recent years though, many of these "theme" restaurants seem to have disappeared as locations were remodeled and/or rebuilt. I can't think of a single location locally that has any kind of theme today, they are all pretty generic looking interiors these days.

I have never seen a Wendy's that did this, but Burger King had a handful of localized interiors out there. One local Burger King had a mural at the counter that depicted the Columbia River and showed landmarks along the river. This was removed during a recent remodel.

One of the Burger Kings in my town (actually the newer one built in 2012) has kind of a local theme with black and white framed prints of our town. I've been to another one that had prints of local themes as well.

Originally the demolished and rebuilt McDonald's had a localized theme also back in the 90s. Like most McD's all of these remodeled ones feature similar colors and furniture. There is really not much difference, although I do find some have more comfortable seating than others.

For some reason, I am not a big fan of the minimalist look new and remodeled locations have at the front counters with a blank tiled wall behind the registers, instead of seeing the ice cream machines and overview of the kitchen behind.

[Alpha8472]

There was a Burger King near me with solarium windows on a large scale. It was like a large greenhouse so you could see the sky and the forested hills. It closed about a year ago rather than remodel. It was the most extravagant 80s style thing I had seen in a long time. It would do nicely as a fine restaurant.

[BillyGr]

I've had the "pleasure" of working with a lot of McDonalds franchisees. McDonalds corporate is mandating these remodels... they generally run around $2M (although corporate offers a rebate and incentive package, which varies among time, location, negotiation, etc.). In general... over the long-term, it's cheaper to tear down and rebuild than it is to remodel / reconfigure an aging store, but most stores don't want to relinquish several months of revenue. And if they relocate, it's likely likely McDonald's will hike what they pay in rent (since McDonald's owns the land). Because (with very few exceptions) McDonalds make a ton of money, eventually all operators will have to re-model, or they'll eventually lose their store.

I'd suspect there will be a few that won't - one that comes immediately to mind is out in CA and still looks like the 1950's. Also, we have one locally that, while the inside has been redone a couple times, the exterior won't be (or not to look like most of the new ones), as they had a very hard time getting it approved to begin with, and it has blue siding to "blend in" with the area. Probably a few others like that around the US as well (like a town in Ohio where every building is brick (or looks like brick by covering), including Wal-Mart.

I always thought the mansard roof design was the best one McDonald's ever had. For me, it's their version of the A+P Centennial store. When you think of A+P, that's usually the first thing you think of and with McDonald's it's usually the mansard roof. I would've said their original one was the best but the mansard roof was rolled out when they went into interior seating and when their expansion kicked into high gear so there were just so many more built in the first place. As far as any existing around my area, one still does-(sort of). McDonald's came to Gloversville in 1972 on an out parcel of a new shopping center and in the latter half of the 80's built a new restaurant across the road on the opposite corner. The old building was taken over shortly afterward by a local Italian restaurant which at the time was located in that center and remains in the building to this day. Aside from a few minor modifications, they've done very little to the exterior and honestly they've probably maintained it better than McDonald's would've if they had remained there.

There is that one in Schenectady (Nott St.) that they wanted to replace but the city wouldn't approve it, so that will likely stay as is. Hudson is just getting a new one being built now, but still has the mansard style.
Also interesting in that that one was also a replacement for an older store up the street that was also converted to an Italian restaurant (until it drew bombing threats) and later became a chapel.

There was a Burger King near me with solarium windows on a large scale. It was like a large greenhouse so you could see the sky and the forested hills. It closed about a year ago rather than remodel. It was the most extravagant 80s style thing I had seen in a long time. It would do nicely as a fine restaurant.

There are a couple locally that were converted - one was Italian in Saranac Lake (though it seems to be closed now) and a Japanese restaurant in Albany.