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McDonald's history
McDonald's company history timeline
The first McDonald’s restaurant was opened in 1940 by brothers Maurice (“Mac”) and Richard McDonald in San Bernardino, California.
However, in 1948 the brothers decided to revamp the business, and after a three-month renovation, a newly envisioned McDonald’s opened.
The brothers introduced the "Speedee Service System" in 1948, putting into expanded use the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant that their predecessor White Castle had put into practice more than two decades earlier.
The attention getting red and white tiled building with the Golden Arches was designed by architect Stanley Meston in 1953.
In 1954 he visited the restaurant to see how a small shop could sell so many milk shakes.
They had already established a handful of franchises in California and Arizona by the time a milkshake mixer salesman named Ray Kroc visited San Bernardino in 1954.
In 1954, he visited a restaurant in San Bernardino, California that had purchased several Multimixers.
In 1956 he discovered that the McDonald brothers had licensed the franchise rights for Cook County, Illinois (home of Chicago and many of its suburbs) to the Frejlack Ice Cream Company.
By 1958, McDonald’s had sold its 100 millionth hamburger.
In 1959, however, Kroc opened 67 new restaurants, bringing the total to more than 100.
Four years later, Kroc opened his 100th restaurant in 1960.
1960: The slogan, "Look for the Golden Arches," is used in an advertising campaign.
The original mascot of McDonald's was a chef hat on top of a hamburger who was referred to as "Speedee". In 1962, the Golden Arches replaced Speedee as the universal mascot.
First, in 1963, the public face of the company was introduced, a clown named Ronald McDonald; however, criticism over marketing to children and the growing negative perception of clowns resulted in the company largely sidelining the character in the early 21st century.
Boosted by these numbers, the company’s stock began trading publicly in 1965.
The mascot, clown Ronald McDonald, was introduced in 1965.
In 1967 a franchise opened in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, McDonald’s first location outside the United States.
Although the "Golden Arches" logo appeared in various forms, the present version was not used until November 18, 1968, when the company was favored a United States trademark.
Perhaps the most notable addition occurred in 1968, when McDonald’s added the Big Mac to its national menu; the iconic hamburger went on to reportedly become the company’s top-selling item after french fries.
McDonald’s introduced the new Mansard Roof Design in 1969 in Matteson, Illinois.
supplier of beef to McDonald's stores in Costa Rica since 1970), stated on
Ray Kroc made a $250,000 donation to the controversial 1972 presidential
Kroc became chairman and remained CEO until 1973.
1973: Breakfast items begin to appear on the menu, with the debut of the Egg McMuffin.
In 1974 it joined Philadelphia Eagles football player Fred Hill, whose daughter had been diagnosed with leukemia, in founding the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia.
Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonald’s by Ray A. Kroc, ©Ray A. Kroc 1977.
They reopened in 1980 with
In 1982 Michael R. Quinlan became president of McDonald's Corporation and Fred Turner became chairman.
museum, to this ultra modern restaurant opened in 1983 in New Orleans
Chicken McNuggets were introduced in 1983, and by the end of the year McDonald's was the second largest retailer of chicken in the world.
Right up until he died on January 14, 1984, Ray Kroc never stopped working for McDonald’s.
In 1985, two union activists won a victory at a labour court after claiming
1985: McDonald's becomes one of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
camera that his company's beef was being supplied to McDonald's in the USA. 1986
In addition, the Ronald McDonald House Charities (established 1987) supports various other efforts.
In 1987 ready-to-eat salads were introduced to lure more health-conscious consumers.
By the end of 1997 the total had surpassed 23,000--by that time McDonald's was opening 2,000 new restaurants each year--an average of one every five hours. It took McDonald's 33 years to open its first 10,000 restaurants--the 10,000th unit opened in April 1988.
Innovative promotions, such as the "when the United States wins, you win" giveaways during the Olympic Games in 1988, were a huge success.
By 1990, more than 40,000 people had received "Bachelor of Hamburgerology" degrees from the 80-acre Oak Brook, Illinois, facility.
The company had cooked its fries in beef tallow until 1990, when it began claiming in ads that it used 100 percent vegetable oil.
By 1991, 37 percent of systemwide sales came from restaurants outside the United States.
In March 1992 Braille and picture menus were reintroduced to acknowledge the 37 million Americans with vision, speech, or hearing impairments.
In 1993 a new region was added to the empire when the first McDonald's in the Middle East opened in Tel Aviv, Israel.
McDonalds: Behind the Golden Arches by John F. Love ©John F. Love 1995.
The "grown-up" (and pricey) Arch Deluxe sandwich and the Deluxe Line were launched in 1996 in a $200 million campaign to gain the business of more adults, but were bombs.
McDonald's also began to benefit from a ten-year global marketing alliance signed with Disney in 1996.
Perhaps the most important marketing move came in the later months of 1997 when McDonald's named BDD Needham as its new lead ad agency.
Donatos had 1997 revenues of $120 million.
In the second quarter of 1998 McDonald's took a $160 million charge in relation to the cuts.
1998: The company takes its first stake in another fast-food chain, buying a minority interest in Colorado-based Chipotle Mexican Grill.
In March 1999 the company bought Aroma Café, a U.K. chain of 23 upscale coffee and sandwich shops.
Revenue at Boston Market during 1999 totaled $670 million.
McDonald's was also one of three multinational corporations (along with Starbucks Corporation and Nike, Inc.) whose outlets in Seattle were attacked in late 1999 by some of the more aggressive protesters against a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting taking place there.
1999: Donatos Pizza Inc. is acquired.
2000: McDonald's buys the bankrupt Boston Market chain.
McDonald's rounded out its acquisition spree in early 2001 by buying a 33 percent stake in Pret A Manger, an upscale urban-based chain specializing in ready-to-eat sandwiches made on the premises.
Late in 2001 the company launched a restructuring involving the elimination of about 850 positions, 700 of which were in the United States, and some store closings.
McDonald’s published its first ever Social Responsibility Report on April 15, 2002.
Early in 2002 Cantalupo retired after 28 years of service.
Same-store sales rose 2.4 percent for the entire year, after falling 2.1 percent in 2002.
2002: Restructuring charges of $853 million result in the firm's first quarterly loss since going public.
Launching of Revitalization Plan Under New Leadership in 2003
2003: McDonald's sells Donatos in order to refocus on its core hamburger business.
McDonald’s also experienced a backlash following the popular documentary Super Size Me (2004), in which the filmmaker saw his health drastically decline while on a diet of only McDonald’s foods.
However, by late 2008 McDonald’s no longer owned or had a stake in any of those companies, instead concentrating on its own brand.
The most recent opening in Kazakhstan in 2016.
In 2017 the company released its first plant-based hamburger, though it was only available in certain markets.
In addition, in 2018 McDonald’s announced that it had stopped using preservatives in most of its hamburgers.
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McDonald's competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendy's | 1969 | $2.2B | 12,500 | 5,504 |
| Sonic Drive-In | 1953 | $423.6M | 5,000 | 5,921 |
| Subway | 1965 | $16.1B | 5,000 | 714 |
| Panera Bread | 1981 | $2.8B | 140,000 | 3,950 |
| Yum! Brands | 1997 | $7.5B | 34,000 | 158 |
| KFC | 1952 | $7.5B | 820,000 | 6,762 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 1993 | $11.3B | 64,570 | 4,299 |
| Planet Hollywood International | 1991 | $26.0M | 400 | - |
| Applebee's Canada | 1980 | $2.5B | 28,000 | 1,372 |
| Domino's Pizza | 1960 | $4.7B | 14,400 | 12,133 |
McDonald's history FAQs
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McDonald's may also be known as or be related to McDonald's, McDonald's Corporation, McDonald’s, McDonald’s USA LLC, Mcdonald's Corporation, mcdonald's crew member and Mcdonald Restaurant.