McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

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McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by SamSpade »

A local newspaper reporter's take on a demolish and rebuild of a McDonalds (franchise?) restaurant.
https://www.postregister.com/chronicle/ ... e62af.html

Also, yet another Panda Express opening in a Walmart parking lot. Guess that works out well for them. 8-)
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by cjd »

Interesting they mention it will have an indoor playplace and interactive table games. None of the McD's I've seen in my area have those features.

My town has two McDonald's. One was built in 1994 on the site of an older one, and that one got a full remodel about 2012. The other was also built in 1994, but was completely demoed and rebuilt about 3 years ago. That one never had a Playplace that I remember, the other had one originally, but it was removed in the remodel or even before it.

No mansard roof McDonald's exist in my part of the state that I am aware of anyway. Even the small town McDonald's seem to have all gotten full scale remodels since about 2014. McD's seemed to have gone on a building spree here in Florida in the mid-90s as most locations seemed to date from around then, with a few 80s ones still sticking around. Surprisingly some of the 80s locations got remodels while some 90s ones got full rebuilds.
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by storewanderer »

cjd wrote: May 12th, 2021, 8:48 pm

No mansard roof McDonald's exist in my part of the state that I am aware of anyway. Even the small town McDonald's seem to have all gotten full scale remodels since about 2014. McD's seemed to have gone on a building spree here in Florida in the mid-90s as most locations seemed to date from around then, with a few 80s ones still sticking around. Surprisingly some of the 80s locations got remodels while some 90s ones got full rebuilds.
Many of those 90's McDonalds once you get to the mid and late 90's particularly seemed to be on the small side and not really very well put together. I am not surprised they are rebuilding some of those, some simply need more space, also to reconfigure play areas into expanded building space or parking.

In my area however it has been the opposite- the 90's locations have been remodeled (extensively, and it takes a while) while the 80's locations are tending to get demolished and rebuilt. There are a few exceptions I can think of.
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by Bagels »

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.

Wendys and Burger King are also trying to get their franchisees to remodel, but because these restaurants don't make nearly as much as McD's, corporate has a lot less leverage (and has to retort to a larger incentive package). Both are pretty flexible too -- 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.
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by pseudo3d »

Bagels wrote: May 13th, 2021, 11:39 am ...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.
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by Alpha8472 »

The interior playgrounds are really not that great. I have seen some that only had interactive tables. The table is a translucent plastic table with lights in it. When you touch the table the lights in the table change colors and change brightness. It might be fun for a few minutes, but it is not that great. Other rebuilt ones have playgrounds but they are not very interesting for kids. One had a 3 foot tall plastic slide. That was very disappointing. The old fashioned outdoor plastic playgrounds were the best. You could climb up 2 story high ladders and crawl through plastic tunnels. There were even indoor playgrounds with plastic tunnels, but some of them were removed when the restaurants were rebuilt.

Some of them have an interactive floor computer game. Again, that is fun for a few minutes. Supposedly, the light bulb on these burn out all the time making them dim and hard to see. There are some small computer screens with computer games. However, they are confusing and not very fun. Most kids do not even bother with them as most phones have better games.

The last mansard roof McDonald's in my area was replaced just a few years ago. The restaurant was huge and had a great outdoor playground with the tall climbing structure and tunnels. Children from all over the county flocked to this McDonald's because it was the best one. The drive thru was always busy and it had capacity for tons of cars. The replacement just down the street has dual drive thru lanes, but the land at the new restaurant is limited and the drive thru lanes are shorter. You cannot fit as many cars as before. The new dining room is smaller and cannot seat as many people as before. The old restaurant was across the street from a 20,000 student community college. That restaurant had capacity to serve hundreds of customers at lunchtime. The new restaurant is claustrophobic and the drive thru cannot handle the crowds. When the 2 drive thru lanes merge together there are so many near miss car accidents. People keep bumping or scraping into each other. It is awful. Does the dual drive thru even help? There is usually not enough staff for 2 people to take orders. You still have to merge into 1 lane.
Last edited by Alpha8472 on May 15th, 2021, 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by veteran+ »

Alpha8472 wrote: May 15th, 2021, 4:29 am The interior playgrounds are really not that great. I have seen some that only had interactive tables. The table is translucent plastic table with lights in it. When you touch the table the lights in the table change colors and change brightness. It might be fun for a few minutes, but it is not that great. Other rebuilt ones have playgrounds but they are not very interesting for kids. One had a 3 foot tall plastic slide. That was very disappointing. The old fashioned outdoor plastic playgrounds were the best. You could climb up 2 story high ladders and crawl through plastic tunnels. There were even indoor playgrounds with plastic tunnels, but some of them were removed when the restaurants were rebuilt.

Some of them have an interactive floor computer game. Again, that is fun for a few minutes. Supposedly, the light bulb on these burn out all the time making them dim and hard to see. There are some small computer screens with computer games. However, they are confusing and not very fun. Most kids do not even bother with them as most phones have better games.

The last mansard roof McDonald's in my area was replaced just a few years ago. The restaurant was huge and had a great outdoor playground with the tall climbing structure and tunnels. Children from all over the county flocked to this McDonald's because it was the best one. The drive thru was always busy and it had capacity for tons of cars. The replacement just down the street has dual drive thru lanes, but the land at the new restaurant is limited and the drive thru lanes are shorter. You cannot fit as many cars as before. The new dining room is smaller and cannot seat as many people as before. The old restaurant was across the street from a 20,000 student community college. That restaurant had capacity to serve hundreds of customers at lunchtime. The new restaurant is claustrophobic and the drive thru cannot handle the crowds. When the 2 drive thru lanes merge together there are so many near miss car accidents. People keep bumping or scraping into each other. It is awful. Does the dual drive thru even help? There is usually not enough staff for 2 people to take orders. You still have to merge into 1 lane.
Wow...........what a mess! And yet people still go and put up with that for junk food........LOL.

So glad I don't go to fast food places. ;)
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by Super S »

pseudo3d wrote: May 14th, 2021, 8:11 am
Bagels wrote: May 13th, 2021, 11:39 am ...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.
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

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.
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Re: McDonalds tear down and rebuilds: Local Take

Post by cjd »

storewanderer wrote: May 12th, 2021, 9:32 pmMany of those 90's McDonalds once you get to the mid and late 90's particularly seemed to be on the small side and not really very well put together. I am not surprised they are rebuilding some of those, some simply need more space, also to reconfigure play areas into expanded building space or parking.

In my area however it has been the opposite- the 90's locations have been remodeled (extensively, and it takes a while) while the 80's locations are tending to get demolished and rebuilt. There are a few exceptions I can think of.
I've noticed most of the 90s locations had an L shaped dining room here. The front area would have a few tables between the counter and front windows, while the side leading to the restrooms had booths on either side. Most later locations seem to have all of the tables or booths in the front, with no side area leading to the restrooms.

The one that was demolished in particular to be longer and allow the dual drive thru lanes in back as they took over land from an adjacent restaurant that was also demolished.
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