Let's go shopping first and then eat....
"Macy’s will launch Backstage outlets with first four test stores in NYC area" by Anne D’Innocenzio Associated Press May 06, 2015
NEW YORK — Macy’s, which has headquarters in New York and Cincinnati, Ohio, has been a standout among its peers throughout the economic recovery, but the company, which generated annual sales of $28.1 billion in the latest fiscal year, expects total sales growth of just one percent this year. That’s because shoppers are increasingly researching and buying online.
Or not buying at all. That's the problem. The consumer economy has been undercut by greedy wealth inequality.
Moreover, since the Great Recession, shoppers’ fixation with deals on name-brand items has only strengthened. That obsession with fat discounts has helped drive sales growth at off-price retailers.
Look at them blaming you, the penniless shopper!
Macy’s has picked the fiercely competitive New York City area as its first battleground....
Once again, the taste of the self-internalized values of militarism and war frame the terminology.
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I'm sorry, but I lost my appetite:
"McDonald’s tweaks business recipe; Details changes to corporate structure" by Hiroko Tabuchi New York Times May 04, 2015
NEW YORK — Faced with slumping sales in its biggest markets, McDonald’s Corp. on Monday outlined the first steps of a global turnaround strategy, acknowledging that a business that has served up billions of burgers on the cheap was in urgent need of change.
Investors and franchisees had been closely watching Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s new chief executive, for details on how he intends to reverse years of lackluster growth at one of the world’s largest restaurant chains, perhaps with a revamped menu.
But the changes Easterbrook announced in a video message were largely operational. He said McDonald’s would reorganize itself into four new global segments, grouping previously separate markets together: “lead” markets like Britain and Australia; “high growth” markets like China and Russia; the United States; and business in other countries.
I can't choke down anymore.
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McDonald’s will also sell off more company-run locations to local franchisees, a strategy called “refranchising” that Easterbrook said would unlock local entrepreneurship and give the chain more stable revenue. Easterbrook said these and other changes to the corporate structure would contribute to some $300 million in net savings a year.
He wants to dump the losers on a sucker while still shipping them the supplies and pulling in tithes.
“No business or brand has a divine right to succeed, and the reality is our recent performance has been poor,” Easterbrook said in a video message posted on McDonald’s corporate site. “I will not shy away from the urgent need to reset this business.”
Just like the food.
McDonald’s has been struggling to hold its own in the face of rivals like Chipotle Mexican Grill, Shake Shack, and Panera, which are luring away a new generation of customers with higher-end, fresher, seemingly healthier foods.
Must be the GMO policy.
Same-store sales at 14,000-odd McDonald’s restaurants in the United States have fallen over the last five years.
Related:
"McDonald’s plans to permanently shut down 700 “poorly performing” restaurants over the course of 2015. Why would they be doing this if the economy is “getting better”?" -- theeconomiccollapseblog
Good point.
Overseas, McDonald’s has suffered from supply issues and a food safety scandal in Asia, as well as the lingering effects of delays at West Coast ports that disrupted shipments of potatoes for months.
After the Globe told me those strikes had been solved with no ill effects.
Easterbrook, a longtime McDonald’s executive who took over as chief executive in March, has promised to refashion McDonald’s into “a modern, progressive burger and breakfast restaurant.” And he initially appeared to move quickly. Within days of taking the company’s helm, he announced that all the chicken served at McDonald’s restaurants would be free of any antibiotics that are also used in humans.
McDonald’s has also started to simplify its menu offerings, which have mushroomed during the past two decades, and is testing all-day breakfast at some restaurants in the United States, as well as premium chicken sandwiches and sirloin burgers.
That is now there be$t shift.
But even as it simplifies its traditional menu board, the restaurant chain is also testing a personalized menu that allows customers to custom-build sandwiches from a menu of higher-quality meats, toppings, and buns. But analysts say the burgers, made from raw patties rather than the precooked fare used in standard burgers, could be troublesome because they are more expensive, take longer to prepare, and are not offered via the drive-through that makes up a large portion of the chain’s business.
Really stuck in line, huh?
Mark Kalinowski, lead restaurant analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott, said that McDonald’s faced a conundrum.
“Clearly, customers want more customization in a quick-service restaurant setting, but customization is really not McDonald’s historic strength. In fact, franchisees are already voicing deep concerns that restaurants are getting too complex to run and manage,” Kalinowski said.
Hey, I have been told my entire life by my employers and ma$$ media that the CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT (*unless, of course, I am the customer; then it's take what we gave you and shaddup!)
“So on the one hand you have your customers saying they want more customization, which could mean more complexity, and on the other hand you have your franchisees telling you they want more simplification and less complexity. That’s a really difficult challenge to manage your way through.”
Yeah, flipping burgers is tough.
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How emblematic is that metaphor of a photo? The propaganda pre$$ still thinks it's the 1950s!
Time for my one meal of the day soon. I may be back. Then again, I may not.
UPDATE:
"A manager of a Texas fast-food restaurant has been offered her job back after saying she was fired because she would not reimburse the company for nearly $400 she turned over to an armed robber. KHOU-TV reported Popeyes employee Marissa Holcomb, who is pregnant and has three children, also got an apology from the restaurant’s franchise owner. Holcomb said a robber demanded money from the safe on March 31, but she could open only the registers. Z&H Foods owner Amin Dhanani said Holcomb was fired because she broke policy by leaving too much money in the register. The corporate office of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen said it regrets the way the situation was handled. Holcomb is not sure if she will return."
I never go to Popeye's because Louisiana Fast makes me think of gooey gulf shrimp.
ALSO SEE: Strong dollar crimps sales at Macy’s
