McDonald’s was founded by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald. It is America’s one of the leading fast-food chain that is well known for its hamburgers and French fries. Founded in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant by Richard and Maurice McDonald, they changed their mind and turned it into a hamburger chain. Although the first restaurant opened in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, the first restaurant with arch opened in 1953 in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, a businessman named Ray Kroc joined the company as an agent and brought McDonald’s from its founders and subsequently founded the McDonald’s corporation with its headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Owner of McDonald’s Richard and Maurice McDonald were American entrepreneurs who brought a revolution in the field of the restaurant business by coming with the idea of fast-food stands that ultimately formed the base for many other food chains. They were Irish immigrants who opened a hot dog stand in 1937 outside a race track in California. It was successful for only a brief period during which the racing season flourished. They decided to go big. After being granted a loan of $5000 by the bank of America, they opened a drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino which turned out to be a huge success.
One of the main things which they noticed was that their main customer groups were working families that looked for ready to eat food at affordable prices.
After a year or two, they came up with an innovative idea. They discarded the idea of waiters taking orders and serving food. Instead, orders were taken and delivered at the counter and there was no inner dining area. This not only saved a lot of space but saved money as well. This new innovation was a huge success and they started franchising. One of the franchises, Ray Kroc, believed in expanding the business and as a result, brought the entire chain from the McDonalds brother and turned into what it is now. Later, due to the aggressive business measures of Kroc, the McDonalds brothers had to quit the fast-food industry.
In today’s date, McDonald’s is one of the world’s leading fast-food chains with restaurants and outlets spread across 120 countries on 6 continents. As of 2016, it had approximately 36,899 outlets that provided employment to around 1.9 million individuals and serve 68 million people each day. Out of the 36,899 outlets, 5,669 outlets are set up as a company-owned location and the rest are set up at the franchise-owned locations. McDonald’s is famous for its hamburgers, French fries, desserts, and soft drinks. It also keeps updating its menu according to the tastes and preferences of the country it is located in. It also opened a strictly vegetarian outlet in India to tap into the vegetarian section of the Indian society. It has also started serving salads and fruits after it faced several criticisms due to the unhealthy standards of the food.