The two McDonald brothers, Dick and Mac, opened the first McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1948. The brothers were real pioneers with their fast food ideas. They brought assembly line production to the fast food industry. Each worker in their restaurant had a specific task such as grilling, frying, or making shakes. Furthermore, each task was broken down into detailed steps that were always to be followed. People throughout the food industry flocked to the restaurant and were astonished by how quickly the food was prepared and at the long lines of eager customers waiting at the self-service windows. There were no sit-down services or carhops at this restaurant.
In the early 1950s, the brothers reluctantly began to sell franchises because there was so much interest in their methods and equipment. They really didn't have their hearts in franchising and weren't very successful at it. After their first franchising agent quit, Ray Kroc became their franchising agent in 1954.
Ray Kroc built McDonald's into the giant of the fast food industry through his franchising formula. Unlike other early franchisors, he insisted on uniformity. His franchisees had to prepare products in the same way, serve the same products, and produce the same quality. Kroc didn't believe in territorial franchises but rather advocated single-store franchises so that he could control what was going on in each store. What he did worked so successfully that most fast food chains today are insisting on uniformity in product preparation and service.
McDonald's grew rapidly under Ray Kroc. In 1959, McDonald's opened its 100th restaurant. Just one year later, the 200th restaurant was opened. In 1961, Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers, and in 1965, the first public stock offering occurred. In 1967, the international division was formed, and one year later there were 1,000 stores. In 1978, the number of stores was 5,000. By 1988, there were over 10,000 stores, and McDonald's was continuing to expand around the globe.
During this expansion, innovation was always taking place to meet the customer's changing demands. In 1963, Filet-O-Fish was the first item added to the original menu. Indoor seating was introduced in 1967. The Big Mac appeared in 1968, along with hot apple pie. Egg McMuffin was introduced in 1973, the first drive-thru in 1975, Chicken McNuggets in 1982, and salad in 1987.
The growth of McDonald's has been phenomenal. By 1988, system-wide sales topped $ 14 billion. McDonald's spends millions of dollars every year trying to stay one step ahead of the competition. Its advertising budget dwarfs that of its competitors. The company has a firm commitment to remaining in the forefront of the fast food industry. In 1984, McDonald's spent $185 million on upgrading existing stores.
Today McDonald's is an international restaurant chain. There are McDonald's from Tokyo to London. If you are planning on traveling, you will not need to fear missing the taste of a Big Mac, since there are McDonald's restaurants in 50 different countries. McDonald's even has restaurants in Yugoslavia, Hungary, and South Korea and has announced plans for the Soviet Union.
McDonald's has also had a tremendous impact on the people in this country. According to Time magazine, many people think of the company as a public institution. Children of all ages love the McDonald's characters. In fact, young children often recognize Ronald McDonald better than any of the other cartoon characters that are seen on Saturday morning TV shows.
It is mind-boggling to realize that no matter the language or the country, 22 million people eat at McDonald's every day. On April 15, 1955, the first day sales for Ray Kroc's first McDonald's were $366.12. In 1988, the average sales per unit were over $1.5 million dollars. It is hard to leave home today without seeing a McDonald's restaurant.
Colonel Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken
There are not too many people in the United States who haven't heard of Colonel Sanders. He took his recipe for fried chicken and turned it into an American success story. His was not a quick overnight success, but rather a story of hard work and perseverance.
Colonel Sanders perfected his famous chicken recipe with his secret combination of 11 herbs and spices in the late 1930s and served his chicken to customers in his restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky. This was not a fast food restaurant but a sit-down restaurant adjoining the motor court he owned. People raved about his chicken, and restaurant owners wanted to use his recipe.
In 1952, the colonel signed his first franchise agreement with Pete Harman in Salt Lake City. In the next four years, he continued to sell the right to serve his recipe to established restaurants. He would travel to restaurants with his pressure cooker and show the owners how to cook his chicken and then would walk out and give the customers free samples. At first, his chicken was just a menu item. But soon he began franchising the Kentucky Fried Chicken concept. Some even began selling the chicken in small units on the side.
In 1956, when Colonel Sanders was already old enough to retire, he sold his restaurant and motel and officially formed his Kentucky Fried Chicken company. When he sold his company for $2 million in 1964, he had 600 Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets. The Colonel remained with the business as a goodwill ambassador, traveling thousands of miles each year until his death in 1980. Since the Colonel sold the company, it has changed hands several times. Today, it is owned by PepsiCo Inc., which also owns Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
Over the years, the Kentucky Fried Chicken company has stayed with the Colonel's Original Recipe chicken and fixins. At the present time there are some 7,700 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants and the company is continuing to expand at the rate of about one new restaurant a day around the world. While Kentucky Fried Chicken is dominant in the chicken market, other chains that are selling a lot of chicken include Church's, Popeye's, Chick-fil-A, Grandy's, and Bojangles'.
