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| Who Could Have Guessed That McDonalds Customers; Wouldn't Want Espresso? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 21 2008, 02:45 AM (156 Views) | |
| QuirtEvans | Jul 21 2008, 02:45 AM Post #1 |
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
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McDonald's May Take Heat For Bet on Espresso Drinks By JANET ADAMY July 21, 2008; Page A2 Investors may find out this week whether McDonald's Corp.'s push into espresso drinks is losing its buzz. On Wednesday, the Golden Arches plans to report second-quarter earnings. Executives should explain how they are mitigating high ingredients costs and whether $4-a-gallon gas is causing people to cut back on Big Macs and french fries. Management may have to defend its giant bet on lattes and cappuccinos, which they want to add at all McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants by next year as part of a broader beverage expansion. McDonald's jump into coffee comes as Starbucks Corp. is shuttering 600 U.S. shops due to weak sales, with many Americans having trouble justifying a $3 coffee when their home values are dwindling and their gasoline and grocery bills have leapt. McDonald's sales data suggest that these specialty coffee drinks, now in at least 1,700 locations, aren't selling well. A chart of the six major areas where the company is selling the drinks shows that sales in most markets peaked about three weeks after the drinks launched, then declined in the following weeks, in some cases sharply, according to company documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. In Kansas City, Mo., for instance, the average number of specialty coffee drinks sold per restaurant peaked in early December at 359. As of the last week in June, that average had fallen to 217. McDonald's spokesman William Whitman called that data an incomplete representation of overall sales and said most major markets are meeting or exceeding the company's expectations. There are too many variables that affect sales to draw a definitive conclusion from the sales data, especially because the program is still in its early stages. So far, McDonald's hasn't put its national marketing muscle behind the drinks. In addition, most of the espresso drinks are hot, so they may not sell as well in summer, and customers may simply be switching from the espresso drinks to McDonald's iced coffees, which are tallied as a different category. But chains like McDonald's never want to see the sales chart moving downward, especially when the product is at the core of the largest expansion to their menu in 30 years. Franchisees are quietly griping that the cost of renovating their restaurants to add the drinks, part of which McDonald's is paying, doesn't justify the expense. That's prompting some of them to skip the fancy beverage counter that executives want them to build and instead just add the machines that make the drinks. "Nobody wants to spend the money on that," one franchisee said. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1216599608...us_inside_today |
| It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010. | |
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| ivorythumper | Jul 21 2008, 02:49 AM Post #2 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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Espresso seems about 15 years too late. |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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| George K | Jul 21 2008, 02:56 AM Post #3 |
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Finally
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Surely you meant "Espresso seems about 15 years too "latte," right? |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Mikhailoh | Jul 21 2008, 03:02 AM Post #4 |
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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I had a McCappucino a year or so ago in Columbus. The McD by the airport has them. It was pretty decent, and they had a nice Starbuck's-like seating area. It was an improvement, but I doubt they can get the critical mass to make it profitable on their scale. |
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball | |
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| Riley | Jul 21 2008, 03:09 AM Post #5 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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| Frank_W | Jul 21 2008, 11:41 AM Post #6 |
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Resident Misanthrope
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McDonald's coffee has always been utter ****e. Everyone knows that... What a competely stupid move....
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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
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| Red Rice | Jul 21 2008, 11:49 AM Post #7 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I'm practically addicted to Mickey D's sweet tea. |
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Civilisation, I vaguely realized then - and subsequent observation has confirmed the view - could not progress that way. It must have a greater guiding principle to survive. To treat it as a carcase off which each man tears as much as he can for himself, is to stand convicted a brute, fit for nothing better than a jungle existence, which is a death-struggle, leading nowhither. I did not believe that was the human destiny, for Man individually was sane and reasonable, only collectively a fool. I hope the gunner of that Hun two-seater shot him clean, bullet to heart, and that his plane, on fire, fell like a meteor through the sky he loved. Since he had to end, I hope he ended so. But, oh, the waste! The loss! - Cecil Lewis | |
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| ivorythumper | Jul 21 2008, 12:36 PM Post #8 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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You sound like an Americano. I'm trying to ristretto myself from making more bad puns, but I don't know if I kona. |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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| jon-nyc | Jul 21 2008, 12:41 PM Post #9 |
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Cheers
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Just curious, whats the sweetener, HFCS? |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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| Frank_W | Jul 21 2008, 12:45 PM Post #10 |
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Resident Misanthrope
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Fulla' beans...
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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
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| Red Rice | Jul 21 2008, 12:49 PM Post #11 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Sugar, but a lot of it. |
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Civilisation, I vaguely realized then - and subsequent observation has confirmed the view - could not progress that way. It must have a greater guiding principle to survive. To treat it as a carcase off which each man tears as much as he can for himself, is to stand convicted a brute, fit for nothing better than a jungle existence, which is a death-struggle, leading nowhither. I did not believe that was the human destiny, for Man individually was sane and reasonable, only collectively a fool. I hope the gunner of that Hun two-seater shot him clean, bullet to heart, and that his plane, on fire, fell like a meteor through the sky he loved. Since he had to end, I hope he ended so. But, oh, the waste! The loss! - Cecil Lewis | |
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| George K | Jul 21 2008, 12:59 PM Post #12 |
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Finally
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Bean there, done that. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Frank_W | Jul 21 2008, 01:02 PM Post #13 |
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Resident Misanthrope
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What grounds do they have for producing espresso??
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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
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| ivorythumper | Jul 21 2008, 01:19 PM Post #14 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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Oh for Peet's sake! |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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4:51 PM Jul 10