[ankle_brains]

that is one restaurant that I have seen move before but never a location go totally out of business.

what about you?

[sideus]

Yeah. Also have seen one where they rebuilt three times in a 15 year period.

[Q27]

yup, at the food court in one of the malls around here. Closed up there, and it was replaced by a Burger King. Really weird, because people were always lined up at McDonalds. They always had a steady stream of business. The restaurant right next to this location, I rarely see anybody going there, and it has been there for years.

[Stradlater]

sure, one went out of business in my town just earlier this year.

[d4nth3m4n]

on the commons (pedestrian mall in the center of town) in ithaca here, they have tried with mcdonalds, taco bell and pizza hut. all three didnt last very long as there are a lot of other food options for just about the same price. the cvs pharmacy went out of business as well.

[scadboy]

Oh! How I miss Ithaca!

There's a McDonalds on Derenne Ave near Candler Hospital that went out of business. Just about every business in that area does within six months, don't know why�

I'd like to see the McDonalds on Abercorn Plaza go out of business, it's the nastiest McDonalds I've ever seen, and the people that work there are extremely unfriendly, even more so than you'd usually expect from a MCDonalds. So, needless to say, I don't go there, but I keep hearing about people having bad experiences there.

hmmmmmm

michael

[dampeoples]

I saw one get flooded out once, they put another chain in it's place, not a McDonalds.

[shabbasuraj]

I saw one go out of business, it was in the worst part of town, and got robbed nightly...

they couldn't find brave enough staff, so it shut down...

[Zoom_zoom]

I have seen Two McDonalds close down.

One just outta Melbourne and one in a small Queenland town called Maryborough.

[korn]

There were 5 McD's in my town, now there is only one.

[Scifience]

No. My town has three McDonalds on the same street within a two mile stretch of road. All have been in business for years.

I have seen one get shut down, demolished, and then re-opened a month later. My, the do build things fast these days.

Now I'm hungry.

[voodoo]

Sure one closed down here just downtown. Can't say I miss it.

[Eriamjh]

Traditionally, McDonald's franchises used to have greater than a 95% success rate past 5 years. However, as of late, they do close down because people are finding more ways to ruin a business. Also, with a track record like that, McDonald's owners got a little "cocky" and moved into market that really couldn't sustain them.

They are still one of the most successful franchises to own or operate. Despite how much people say they hate them, people still eat there.

Not me. Not in many years. BK!

[brapper]

kinda on the same topic, I worked in a bookstore which closed when it was bought out by another chain. It had a starbucks in it and apparently it was the only starbucks to ever close (so the manager told me...) Don't know if this is still the case.

[calamar1]

Yes, i have, actually.

Link.

This was in Paris on some street corner. Hard to tell if this McDonalds went out of business or was driven out of business. Either way, it's now been taken over by some people who... well, don't like them very much.

[macroy]

Originally posted by Eriamjh:
Traditionally, McDonald's franchises used to have greater than a 95% success rate past 5 years. However, as of late, they do close down because people are finding more ways to ruin a business. Also, with a track record like that, McDonald's owners got a little "cocky" and moved into market that really couldn't sustain them.

They are still one of the most successful franchises to own or operate. Despite how much people say they hate them, people still eat there.

Not me. Not in many years. BK!

I heard that it take approx. one million to start a McDees.. and they don't accept partnerships. Thus, you'd have to be pretty successful already to have one... donsn't make sense to me (unless my facts are all wacked out).. .If I had a million, I would think I'd already be pretty successful at what I was doing - and working 12-15hrs a day in a fast-food chain wouldnt' be what I call a "good" change.

[stevesnj]

Yeah one near me was burned down by a volunteer fireman, and 5 years later some guy drove his car through it trying to kill himself only he killed the night crew instead...sad but true, now its being rebult again after 2 years. It was the first McDonalds in NJ.

[Kenneth]

Yes. Just noticed it today. The McDonald's has been replaced by Fatburger in the download Bellevue location.

[sebastian haff]

Really depends on wheather it is a franchise or a "corporate" store. I have never heard of a corporate store going out of business. Often when a franchisee fails it becomes a corporate store un less the location is completely stinko.

[Face Ache]

There was one shut down on Stanley Street (the road to Manly in Sydney). Bad location - people are either going to or leaving Manly. Why stop there?

I'm always amazed when shops open up in dumb locations. What are they thinking? Who loans them the money?

[fireside]

Originally posted by macroy:
and working 12-15hrs a day in a fast-food chain wouldnt' be what I call a "good" change.

when you own a franchised restaurant you dont actually work there - you hire people to work there fore you. its like an investment. you have to give out the million to buy it, and maybe a couple thousand each month for everything, but you end up getting 10,000$ for your "troubles" each month.

[yukon]

nope, not once here. I've seen closed Taco Bell's everywhere though, do they count? ;-)

I believe that I could bankroll a small Arby's if it were nextdoor, or a Jack-In-The-Box or In-'N-Out anywhere in the city, were they to move into canadia. the US can keep their El Pollo Loco and Del Taco's though ;-)

[macroy]

Originally posted by fireside:
when you own a franchised restaurant you dont actually work there - you hire people to work there fore you. its like an investment. you have to give out the million to buy it, and maybe a couple thousand each month for everything, but you end up getting 10,000$ for your "troubles" each month.

Good point. Still... again, 10K a month seems a bit low for someone who already has millions.. Unless he/she ownes a few of them..
But again, that goes back to my original point - if you have enough money to obtain a few McDees (a 1 mil a pop)... whatever you were doing must have been pretty good.

[Cipher13]

Yep, seen it locally.

[MisterX]

Originally posted by ankle_brains:
that is one restaurant that I have seen move before but never a location go totally out of business.

what about you?

Never heard of it... but im high.

[PB2K]

In Holland KFC is rapidly setting up franchises. We only had MacDonalds and BurgerKing here.

The meals are a lot smaller than in the USA, and most people feel guilty eating in a fastfoodjoint. It doesn't say much good about you having to eat cheap raunchy food

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by macroy:
I heard that it take approx. one million to start a McDees.. and they don't accept partnerships. Thus, you'd have to be pretty successful already to have one... donsn't make sense to me (unless my facts are all wacked out).. .If I had a million, I would think I'd already be pretty successful at what I was doing - and working 12-15hrs a day in a fast-food chain wouldnt' be what I call a "good" change.

Um.

People DON'T typically start a business with money they actually own.

And as someone else pointed out, if you open a franchise, you're not going to be standing at the counter.

The way it works is that most of that money goes directly to McDonald's corp, because you HAVE to buy/license everything from them when you open your franchise: every seat, flooring tile, and poster frame is either McD-approved or bought/rented from them.

The only thing that's yours in the whole arrangement is the risk, and if it pans out, some money. A fixed amount goes to McDonald's Inc. every month, as well as a portion of the profits, should you ever make any.

If not, everything goes back to McDonald's, and you owe the bank a lot of money.

They risk nothing, which is why franchises work so well.

-s*

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by PB2K:
It doesn't say much good about you having to eat cheap raunchy food

I don't know about Holland, but the KFC we just got here is NOT cheap!

-s*

[gorickey]

Have you ever seen a "Jack in the Box" stay in business?