McDonald’s to Open a Restaurant a Day in China in Four Years
By Bloomberg News - Jul 29, 2011
McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), the world’s largest restaurant chain, should open an outlet a day in Chinaas it challenges Yum! Brands for dominance in Asia’s largest economy as rising salaries boost spending on fast food.
“We should be opening a restaurant every day in the next three to four years” in China, Peter Rodwell, company president for Asia excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand, said in an interview in Singapore today. “We’re now opening a restaurant every other day.”
McDonald’s franchised outlets in China may account for as much as 20 percent of the total within six years, Rodwell said, as the hamburger chain aims to increase its stores from 1,300 to 2,000 by 2013. While its website says more than 75 percent of restaurants worldwide are operated by franchisees, only six McDonald’s shops in the world’s most-populous nation are franchised, said Vivian Zhang, a Shanghai-based spokeswoman.
“Franchising can be a very effective way to grow in China,” said Ben Cavender, an analyst at China Market Research in Shanghai. “It will potentially allow them to accelerate their expansion on the mainland.”
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