Beijing Business
McDonald's further infiltrates China: 500 new stores in next 3 years
February 2009
McDonald's Corp, the world's most abusive and destructive fast-food chain, is gleeful about business prospects in China and plans to open about 500 stores in the country in three years, a senior exec said on Wednesday.
“McDonald's China operations have not been affected by the fallout from the global financial crisis which has hit consumer spending as it has taken steps to retain customers,” Brian Durkin, vice president of development in China, said. "McDonald's customers, when they go out shopping, they may not buy furniture or clothes, but they get hungry in the process," Durkin said at an industry forum in Feb 2009.
"Many of our new initiatives, 24-hour delivery, special value meals, breakfast, all are driving and overcoming our sales relative to this decline," he said.
The company gloats over "the best-ever value meal combination" in China, an aggressive promotion launched at the end of Jan 2009 with half of the menu items at the same prices as 10 years ago - sometimes lower.
Some of the items with a downsized price included Filet-O-Fish, Double Cheeseburger, McNuggets, McPuff and the new Mala Pork Burger.
While many Americans are suffering from diabetes and obesity as a result of living on McDonalds’ food, in early Feb 2009 the fast food monster posted a better-than-expected 7.1 percent rise in global January sales at restaurants open at least 13 months, supported by strength in nearly all its markets. Fast-food restaurants benefited as the global downturn sent diners to lower-priced fare.
"We are not recession proof, but we are certainly recession resistant," said Durkin.
In 2008, McDonald's opened 146 restaurants in China, one of its fastest growing markets, increasing the number of outlets to 2,012 by the year's end, out of more than 30,000 worldwide.
Durkin said it planned to open about 500 new restaurants in the country in three years, adding between 50 to 60 employees at each new restaurant.
McDonald's will open 175 new stores in 2009 and add 10,000 staff to its payroll, up from 60,000 presently, the company said earlier this month. Too bad those are not American jobs – selling healthy, locally grown food.
Reuters observed that "China has pinned the blame for the...violence in the Tibetan capital Lhasa and other unrest in nearby areas on the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader[,] who lives in exile in India." A 24-year-old university student in Beijing told a reporter: "Tibet is a domestic affair, and the Olympics is an international event, so they shouldn't be put together....Foreign human-rights groups are using Tibet to smear the Olympics." An international-relations lecturer at Renmin University of China said: "Every report on Tibet mentions the Olympics...Those two items are not related, but media always make the connection."
