{"id":610291,"date":"2026-09-24T12:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/610291\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T12:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:50:11","slug":"mcdonalds-is-spending-billions-to-make-major-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/610291\/","title":{"rendered":"McDonald\u2019s is spending billions to make major changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

\n McDonald\u2019s is spending billions of dollars to boost its franchises, an effort to cement its title as the leader in fast food amid growing competition<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n The chain announced Wednesday that it will invest $8.5 billion by 2036 on a series of initiatives, including remodeling restaurants, retraining its 2 million employees and adding new menu items to target high-protein eaters.\n <\/p>\n

\n About $5 billion will be spent in the next three and a half years alone, a combination of capital support as well as rent relief for franchises.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s all part of a multiyear strategy to win back diners and capture more market share. Last month, McDonald\u2019s reported its slowest quarterly growth<\/a> since 2025. The chain had blamed the decline on launching too many promotions, plus inadequate customer service and its massive World Cup promotion failing to attract eaters.\n <\/p>\n

\n The new strategy, called \u201cNext,\u201d aims to make the chain \u201cthe first choice for more customers, more often \u2014 while making our restaurants stronger and easier to run,\u201d CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a press release.\n <\/p>\n

\n McDonald\u2019s troubles are part of broader economic issues affecting all dining chains, with rising food prices causing customers to dine out less<\/a>. The chain\u2019s stock has fallen about 20% for the year.\n <\/p>\n

\n In addition to rent relief and capital support, some of that multibillion-dollar spend will be used for remodeling restaurants. McDonald\u2019s mandates its franchises remodel every decade.\n <\/p>\n

\n Images revealed on Wednesday show expansive dining rooms, bigger play areas and improved lighting. There are also redesigned kitchens that will use new AI tools to improve speed and efficiency, which the company said it expects to earn each restaurant an additional $100,000 in cash flow via savings.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n McDonald\u2019s also focused on changing its menu as it combats new competition that includes a revitalized Burger King<\/a>, beverages<\/a> from fast-growing upstarts, and chicken-centric chains <\/a>rolling out nuggets and tenders.\n <\/p>\n

\n Notably, rival Burger King posted an 8.5% increase in US same-store sales last quarter, outpacing McDonald\u2019s by the largest margin in more than a decade.\n <\/p>\n

\n McDonald\u2019s also noted a growing market of protein seekers, which it said amounts to 60 million Americans as well as 30 million GLP-1 users. The chain is testing burger and chicken bowls, egg bites and more grilled chicken options, like in wraps.\n <\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/p>\n

\n Customers \u201cwant more protein, greater portion flexibility and food that leaves them feeling satisfied without feeling like too much,\u201d McDonald\u2019s USA president Skye Anderson said at the company\u2019s investor day on Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n A new value menu is also also being discussed with its franchisees that will replace its recently introduced \u201c$3 and Under\u201d menu, Kempczinski said. Last month, he said<\/a> restaurants \u201cwere overwhelmed by too many deployments (of promotions) in the quarter, which led to less efficient restaurant operations\u2026 and impacted customer service times.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In addition to previously announced drinks<\/a>, the chain is focusing on installing new espresso machines and offering alternative milks in an attempt to improve coffee sales.\n <\/p>\n

\n Lastly, McDonald\u2019s is launching a new program on October 5 to retrain its 2 million employees worldwide. Rivals like Burger King and Starbucks are rolling out similar programs as customers grow tired of self-service technology<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhile there is so much our customers love, we are falling short when it comes to consistent execution,\u201d Anderson said Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 McDonald\u2019s is spending billions of dollars to boost its franchises, an effort to cement its title…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-610291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}