McDonald's: Not Lovin' It
Bloomberg Businessweek|September 21 - September 27 2015
Skinny lattes, wraps, and other frustrations of McDonald's owners.
Bryan Gruley and Leslie Patton
McDonald's: Not Lovin' It

Al Jarvis was 16 when he started working at a McDonald’s in Saginaw, a city in Michigan, in 1965. His first customer ordered an All-American: a burger, fries, and shake for 52¢. Soon Jarvis was working 50 hours a week and catching up on sleep at school. He skipped college to manage restaurants. By 1977 he was advising McDonald’s franchisees and helping with store openings across the state. One day in 1980, as he was unpacking his garment bag, his young son asked, “Daddy, where do you live?” So the next year he bought a McDonald’s in Hastings, southeast of Grand Rapids. Over the years he hired hundreds of employees, saw dozens of menu items come and go, and spent four or five hours a day, five or six days a week, watching over the counter and grills from his vantage at the fry station.

Jarvis looked forward to celebrating 50 years with McDonald’s this past May. And then, six months short of that milestone, he sold his restaurants. “I wanted to get the hell out,” he says one recent morning as he sits in the Hastings McDonald’s, sipping a skinny vanilla McCafé Latte. Such “foo-foo coffee,” as he calls espresso and its variants, is partly why he bailed: He loves the taste, but the complexities of making it came to epitomize his disillusionment with McD’s. “The service times went up because of the expansion of the menu,” he says. “I think they went a little overboard. It was difficult in the kitchen. When I would come down Apple Street behind the restaurant and see cars backed up at the drive-thru, my stomach would just knot up. The people were different, the company was different. It became very frustrating.”

Denne historien er fra September 21 - September 27 2015-utgaven av Bloomberg Businessweek.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra September 21 - September 27 2015-utgaven av Bloomberg Businessweek.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEKSe alt
Instagram's Founders Say It's Time for a New Social App
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Instagram's Founders Say It's Time for a New Social App

The rise of AI and the fall of Twitter could create opportunities for upstarts

time-read
4 mins  |
March 13, 2023
Running in Circles
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Running in Circles

A subscription running shoe program aims to fight footwear waste

time-read
3 mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
What I Learned Working at a Hawaiien Mega-Resort
Bloomberg Businessweek US

What I Learned Working at a Hawaiien Mega-Resort

Nine wild secrets from the staff at Turtle Bay, who have to manage everyone from haughty honeymooners to go-go-dancing golfers.

time-read
10 mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
How Noma Will Blossom In Kyoto
Bloomberg Businessweek US

How Noma Will Blossom In Kyoto

The best restaurant in the world just began its second pop-up in Japan. Here's what's cooking

time-read
3 mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
The Last-Mover Problem
Bloomberg Businessweek US

The Last-Mover Problem

A startup called Sennder is trying to bring an extremely tech-resistant industry into the age of apps

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
Tick Tock, TikTok
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Tick Tock, TikTok

The US thinks the Chinese-owned social media app is a major national security risk. TikTok is running out of ways to avoid a ban

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
Cleaner Clothing Dye, Made From Bacteria
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Cleaner Clothing Dye, Made From Bacteria

A UK company produces colors with less water than conventional methods and no toxic chemicals

time-read
3 mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
Pumping Heat in Hamburg
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Pumping Heat in Hamburg

The German port city plans to store hot water underground and bring it up to heat homes in the winter

time-read
3 mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
Sustainability: Calamari's Climate Edge
Bloomberg Businessweek US

Sustainability: Calamari's Climate Edge

Squid's ability to flourish in warmer waters makes it fitting for a diet for the changing environment

time-read
4 mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023
New Money, New Problems
Bloomberg Businessweek US

New Money, New Problems

In Naples, an influx of wealthy is displacing out-of-towners lower-income workers

time-read
4 mins  |
March 20 - 27, 2023