Wednesday, May 11, 2011

McDonald’s Going Upscale?



In an effort to revamp its image and attract new customers, McDonald's is going upscale. USA Today Monday got a sneak preview of a $1 billion plan to upgrade restaurants by installing flat-screen televisions, bringing in wooden tables and toning down the loud color scheme. That's pushing the chain into "looking less like McDonald's and more like Starbucks," as reporter Bruce Horovitz wrote.

Is this a good idea? Does it make sense to tinker with the formula that has achieved market saturation, global domination and positive results in good times and bad? Should McDonald's be trying to pull customers from more expensive chains? Can McDonald's really hope to turn itself into a coffee house? As my Daily Ticker colleague Aaron Task and I discuss in the accompanying video, getting into Starbucks' face and market space might be a dubious proposition.

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