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McDonald’s announced Monday that it would close all seating and play areas in all company-owned restaurants beginning Monday, according to USA Today.
- The company said in a statement: “To align with increasing regulations throughout the country, effective at the close of business today, McDonald’s USA company-owned restaurants will close seating areas, including the use of self-service beverage bars and kiosks, and shift our focus to serving customers through drive-thru, walk-in take-out and McDelivery.”
- Play places will close after today, too.
Some context:
- McDonald’s expects franchisees to follow the same idea.
- The company said: “Franchisees are strongly encouraged to adopt similar operations procedures while keeping the needs of their people and communities at the center of their decisions. This guidance is supported by franchisee leadership and is expected to be adopted by the majority of franchisees.”
- McDonald’s owns about 5% of the company’s 14,000 restaurants in the United States, according to CNBC.
Other companies make similar moves:
- Chick-fil-A announced it would stop offering dine-in options for customers, which I wrote about for the Deseret News.
- Starbucks announced will adopt a new “to-go” model where all orders are to-go. Customers will be allowed to walk up to the counter to order coffee, order online or use the drive-through, according to the New York Post.
- Shake Shack will embrace a “to-go” model as well and possible face reduced hours, according to MarketWatch.
- Taco Bell announced it would go “drive-thru” and “delivery only,” according to multiple reports.