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How expensive fast food can explain rising economic equality

Jan 17, 2024
Fast food workers' wages are up as much as 30% since 2020. That has had real costs for businesses, but real benefits for society.
In the fast food sector, where many workers in the bottom 10% of the income distribution are employed, wages went up by 5.7% when adjusted for inflation between 2020 and 2022, says Eric Levitz of Vox.
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Can McDonald's latest venture satisfy consumers' thirst for specialty beverages?

Dec 20, 2023
The chain's new cafe concept, CosMc's, wants a sip of Starbucks' or Dunkin' Donuts' market share.
McDonald's recently launched CosMc's to compete with drink purveyors like Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.
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On McDonald's Investor Day, more data on how its small format restaurants are doing

Dec 6, 2023
With changing patterns of dining, how are small format restaurants, like McDonald's CosMc, shaping up?
CosMc, a new concept restaurant by McDonald's, is based on a McDonald's character of the same name from outer space.
Shammi Mehra/AFP via Getty Images

Franchises are big business, but they're adjusting to economic headwinds

Sep 22, 2023
Franchisees get help with marketing and branding, but the corporate parent can’t do much about high interest rates and labor costs.
McDonald's royalty fees will rise from 4% to 5% for some franchisees, according to a company email viewed by Marketplace.
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For Russians, McDonald's was once a symbol of modernity. Its closing feels like a step backward.

Mar 23, 2022
When the golden arches opened, Russians marveled at how it differed from local restaurants: friendly service and plastic packaging.
When McDonald's opened in Moscow in 1990, Russians looked at it as "a window to a different world," says Konstantin Sonin, a University of Chicago professor who grew up in Russia. Above, the Pushkin Square restaurant.
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For global brands, pulling out of Russia isn't a yes-or-no question

Mar 8, 2022
Logistics, business models and a fear of Russians' reactions are all factors.
The Kremlin's towers are reflected in the window of a McDonald's restaurant in Moscow. The chain said Tuesday that it would temporarily close its Russian locations.
Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images

As office workers mostly work from home, coffee and breakfast chains scramble to boost sales

Nov 5, 2020
The change in your morning routine is impacting the grab-and-go breakfast business.
Fast-food chains were investing more heavily in breakfast foods before the pandemic started.
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For public good, not for profit.

Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images

Most fast-food franchises have bounced back in short order

Aug 5, 2020
Pizza chains and others that allow for social distancing have done especially well. Those that depend on breakfast haven't.
An employee directs drive-thru traffic at a crowded McDonald's in Scotland.
Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images

The complicated history of McDonald's and Black America

Jul 6, 2020
Author Marcia Chatelain examines the fast-food chain's relationship with its Black franchisees and consumers.
Black Lives Matter protesters march past a Philadelphia McDonald's restaurant.
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