Restaurants

This Map Shows Just How Much Your State Taxes the Beer You Drink

Alex Biles — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:21:37 +0000

The Tax Foundation rolled out a new map last week looking at state excise tax rates on beer.

High tax rates are more likely to affect major brewers like Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) and Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) than craft brewers, whose already higher prices have drawn in a faithful who are willing to pay a premium.

The state with the lowest excise tax rate was Wyoming at $0.02, while Tennessee taxed beer ...

Hey McDonald's, Where's That All-Day Breakfast?

Jim Probasco — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:58:02 +0000

Standup comedians joke about it.

The 1993 film, Falling Down turned it into part of the reason Michael Douglas went berserk. “It,” of course, is the McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) “Breakfast Rule.” The McDonald’s “Breakfast Rule” says that no matter how hungry you are for an Egg McMuffin, you can’t have one after 10:30 a.m. local time weekdays or 11 a.m. on weekends.

All that changed in April when McDonald’s President and Chief Executive Officer Don Thompson said on CNBC that the company was considering serving breakfast all day. “Hallelujah,” screamed millions of “Pancakes-at-noon” addicts the world over! “Praise Ronald McDonald,” exclaimed throngs of “Bacon-egg-and-cheese-bagels for dinner” fans! Except it didn’t happen. At least not yet.

So, what’s the holdup? It could be logistics, according to restaurant-franchisee consultant and former McDonald’s restaurant owner, Richard Adams. In a Bloomberg Businessweek report. Adams said “It’s been tried and failed repeatedly. It just makes the operation too complicated.”

Don Boodel, who ...

McDonald's Down on Slow April – Avian Flu, Stiff Competition, Poor Customer Service All Cited

Jim Probasco — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:42:18 +0000

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) certainly has a mixed bag of problems to deal with.

The company said Wednesday that sales at restaurants open more than a year slipped again in April, according to The New York Times. The company laid blame, in part at least, on declines in Asia, where fears over a new strain of avian flu have hurt revenue.

Although sales figures included an increase of 0.7 percent in the United States, that wasn’t enough to overcome the combination of lower sales in China and a decline of 2.4 percent in Europe, McDonald’s biggest market by revenue.

Bird flu isn’t the only problem for McDonald's, according to Reuters. The company, along with Wendy's (NASDAQ: WEN) and other U.S. restaurants is battling for the attention of deal-seeking coupon-toting customers checking out limited time offers and other promotions before deciding where to spend their fast food dollars.

Fortunately, overall food costs remain stable, giving McDonald’s ...

Golden Arches Across The World

Jason Cunningham — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:50:11 +0000

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) CEO Don Thompson spoke exclusively on CNBC's Squawk on the Street Friday morning about the state of the fast-food giant and its position in various markets around the globe.

In the U.S., McDonald's sales show a level of infrequency in relation to hopes of an economic recovery.

"At McDonalds' we are seeing some faint signs at times like late-night hours, breakfast, at times we'll see some resurgence there, but again, it's been a little bit of a mixed bag based upon the cycles within what we've seen across the last year," said Thompson.

In Europe, there are obviously struggles in many countries, but Thompson was quick to say that Europe can't be looked at as a whole.

"The U.K. for us, Russia, have been fairly strong markets, but across Europe, you've got a bit of a mixed bag. We don't see that changing economically anytime soon," said Thompson.

In China, business is growing, despite bird flu scares.

"I think China's still a tremendous growth opportunity for us at McDonald's. We have about, last year we opened up about [250] restaurants. You know, our goal is to be somewhere in the 1,700 range, or 2,000 range, actually, by the end of the year," said Thompson.

The drive-thru, due to increased auto sales, are all the rage in China. This is a big reason for growth there as ...