McDonald’s posted surprise sales gains in November after pushing many of its corporate-owned stores to open on Thanksgiving.
Now the company wants all of its roughly 14,000 outlets to open on Christmas Day, according to a report in Advertising Age.
“Starting with Thanksgiving, ensure your restaurants are open throughout the holidays,” reads the Nov. 8 memo from McDonald’s USA Chief Operating Officer Jim Johannesen. “Our largest holiday opportunity as a system is Christmas Day. Last year, [company-operated] restaurants that opened on Christmas averaged $5,500 in sales.”
While that might not seem like much, consider this: In a second memo, dated Dec. 12, Mr. Johannesen pegged average sales for company-owned restaurants, which compose about 10% of its system, at “more than $6,000” this Thanksgiving. People close to the company said that about 6,000 more locations opened their doors this Thanksgiving than did last year. Presuming their sales were on par with company-owned stores, that’s about $36 million in additional sales.
What do you think about the idea of fast food on Christmas Day? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
