McDonald’s is the world’s largest restaurant chain by revenue, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries across 37,855 outlets as of 2018. Although McDonald’s is best known for its hamburgers, cheeseburgers and french fries, they feature chicken products, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, wraps, and desserts. The company also added salads, fish, smoothies, and fruit in response to changing consumer tastes and a negative backlash because of the unhealthiness of their food. As of 2020, McDonald’s has the ninth-highest global brand valuation.
The company’s milestone:
On May 15, 1940 – Siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California.
1948 – The McDonald brother turn their restaurant into a hamburger and milkshake restaurant, and in the process are credited with inventing the modern service model of fast food.
1954 – Ray Kroc, a traveling appliance salesman, visits the McDonald’s restaurant to discover why a small hamburger shop needs as many milkshake machines as it does. He buys the rights to franchise McDonald’s restaurants across the country.
1955 – Kroc opens his first franchised restaurant, arguably the first restaurant of the modern McDonald’s company, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
1956 – Kroc and Harry Sonnenborn develop a financial model in which McDonald’s would own the land on which its franchisees build their restaurants. That model continues to this day and is often considered one of the most significant financial decisions the company has ever made.
1959 – Kroc named Sonnenborn the first CEO of the McDonald’s company.
1961 – Kroc buys out the McDonald brothers for $2.6 million. The brothers keep their original restaurant, renamed Big M. Kroc later opened a competing McDonald’s nearby that drove them and the first-ever McDonald’s out of business by the end of the decade.
1962/63 – McDonald’s launches its two most recognizable logos: the golden arches and Ronald McDonald.
1965 – McDonald’s launches its public stock.
1967 – Kroc pushes Sonnenborn out and takes the position of CEO himself. Meanwhile, McDonald’s opens its first international restaurant in Canada.
1971 – McDonald’s expands globally, opening in Tokyo, Amsterdam, Munich, and Sydney.
1974 – The first Ronald McDonald House opens.
1975 – The first drive-thru is announced in Arizona.
1978 – The 5,000th restaurant opens in Kanagawa, Japan.
1980 – Chicken Nuggets are added to the menu.
1990 – McDonald’s opens a restaurant in Pushkin Square, Moscow. Given the cultural status of the restaurant, this is seen as a symbolic moment in the end of the Cold War. According to the restaurant’s website, it served more than 30,000 Russian citizens on the first day.
1993 – The company opens its first McCafe, McDonald’s attempt to run a coffee restaurant, in Australia.
1996 – McDonald’s has entered an era of rapid growth.
From 1988 – to 1996 the company doubles its number of restaurants, opening locations number 20,000 this year.
1998/1999 – McDonald’s as a corporation begins to aggressively expand past its traditional business model. It acquires companies including Chipotle (CMG) – Get Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. Report and Boston Market, although it would later divest itself of these holdings.
2000 – By the end of the 1990s, McDonald’s has opened more than 11,000 restaurants outside of the U.S.
2013 – In another symbolic moment, McDonald’s opens its first restaurant in Vietnam.
2015 – In an effort to create new energy around its brand, McDonald’s launches its all-day breakfast menu. This has largely been regarded as a failure, as it generally regarded as splitting an existing customer base rather than bringing new customers into the restaurant.
According to businessinsider.com; .thestreet.com; en.Wikipedia. Source of photo: internet
