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The "Recovery" In One Chart: When Americans Can't Even Afford To Buy McDonalds For 9 Months In A Row
There is endless propaganda... and then there are McDonalds sales.
It is the latter that is by far the best indicator of how the US economy is progressing when stripped of all the bullshit seasonal adjustments, rhetoric and lies from the administration which focus on what is a glowing recovery, for the 1%. As for everyone else, they can't even afford a dollar meal.
The proof? McDonalds same store sales for the last month, July, cratered by 2.5%, far worse than the 1.1% expected driven by a 7.3% collapse in Asian sales, but the number we focus on, US comp store sales, was a devastating 3.2%, on par with the worst decline in history, and the 9th consecutive month in which McDonalds has not posted an increase in US same store sales.
Here is your recovery:
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Maybe the sheeple is tired to eat wood puld with plastic cheese burgers.
But we still have the freedom to do it.....for now.
It's just that no one can really afford to anymore.
Can't afford to buy McDonalds may be a good thing in light of the Husi Food business, no?
Maybe it's just because their food sucks and has continued to suck for as long as I can remember.
Or maybe it's "because they fuck ya' at the drive-through."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWfaiTLPUKQ
I think they're losing business to other restaurants that aren't as keen or quick on pricing changes. From a relative value, mcdonalds just sucks now in that the other places haven't raised prices as quickly, but still give remotely similar portions/quality as before. Also, many restaurants have daily specials and the enterprising holdouts who refuse to prepare food at home can cycle through them during the week for a cheap meal at a better quality establishment.
Also, you've got the assholes like me who only order water when we go out... and many restaurants' pricing structures are centered around making their money off the drinks...
Sheeple have to eat.
If they aren't buying that shit-food, they are buying something else to eat.
Food bank
what a shame to waste all that pink slime
I agree. I get Burger King coupons all the time but McD's has stopped mailing them to me. BK with coupons is a much better deal than McD's.
The fact that they serve poison might be an indicator as well.
More pink slime!
when iced tea costs 3 bucks you think twice about flavored water
of course, its plus tax and tip, and when in chicago the tax is 11%.
We said fuck it for cas nites out--we buy hamburger at 4 bucks a pound, a few rolls, potatoes and make our healthy fries, 3 bean salad from costco and lettuce tom onionand we are happy campers when we bbq--much cheaper and better-even teh beer is a buck a bottle not tip--bad for the servers but saves us $$
this economy is slowing fast-looks like CBO was forced to redo its 10 year forecast and be optimistic-no reduction of gdp to 2.3% I bet and no comment about increasing deficits and pending crisis.
it wil be interesting to see the revisions--kind of like S&P downgrading the US. Can only do it once.
IF YOU want a real treat, make a lamb burger--real tasty-good seasonong and throw on grill.
upscale dinner.
Hal n Back - I agree with all your commentary.
Sam's 90% lean just went up to 3.48 from $3.18, that is exactly 10% inflation bump. Still, it costs slightly less and is far better quality to do burgers at home.
That 7% sales decline in Asia is also telling of steep recession nased on higher inflation of necessities. By fall think we will have topped out of inflationary phase of the depression that began in US in 2008 by 2018. We'll be first out in USA with China lagging a couple years after. Buckle up for the last round of te depression. Assets will fall and you have some dry powder be a good time to pick them up at a good price. For stocks will take a peek in 2015. I have seen a lot of good comments here at ZH lately on lack of price discovery based on currency manipulations.
While some of this has started shaking out (call it tapering, printing what not as well) I think it will take a solid year or two before it can become more clear on valuations.
No, EBT lets the FSA eat at the Cheeeeeesecake Factory.
Even the FSA won't eat MCD's
I can eat well at home for a couple of days on what lunch at that place costs. KFC too, and the rest of them.
KFC has become so expensive for theiir small checken peices no wonder business has dropped off.
A local grocery store chain deli has grilled/fried chicken better than KFCs for half the price and larger peices. Everyoneis ordering from them nowadays.
People need catering they go there instead of KFC.
The stock prices are up but the customers are gone .
well... KFC (and all the others) need to have more employees and pay more taxes under our communist system... They are required to raise their prices... The grocery store is not required to pay checkers any longer, so the few left in the store can cook chicken and mop the floor (using the same gloves no doubt)...
Yogibear - Yes, KFC outside of ones where they still have buffet is a rip off. I eat few carbs these days in any event but the last times I went the chicken was dried out, it had obviously been sitting in a warmer for far too long.
If I am going to pay $12 per person per meal which is what it costs to fill up at KFC, I order Chinese and it's fresh and delivered to my doorstep.
ThisisBob - Maybe not two days but I'll also say this. The service has gotten really lousy there too. Paying managers that barely speaka any engless at $15 an hour results in a manager that doesn't give a shit and whatever bad work ethic learned back in whatever 3rd world country happens here too.
The price of global monopoloy, homogenization, a
shitty pay = shitty products and service. I wager most of you here are not at all surprised.
I don't think the reason is that we can't afford McDonalds. They got rid of me and my daughters favorite items. Chicken Selects, gone. Anhus wrap, gone. Ceaser salad. gone. And frankly their best deluxe burger has no taste compared to a Culvers burger. MacDon's still has the best fries.. Thats not enough.
I think things have gotten pretty bad when people can't even afford a Micky D's gut bomb.
Supersize that McBalsaburger con Queso for me, please. And double the Large McGMO Fries.
Oh and throw in a diet coke. I need to watch my weight.
I'm inclined to thing that the original Coca Cola, made with extract of real Coca leaves, would be much more enjoyable and a darned sight healthier than the High Fructose Corn Syrup crap that now purports to be the 'Classic' formula.
DavidC
Coke has been agressively raising their prices so I and others stopped drinking their garbage.
we used to buy a 2 liter at a buck--now if on sale its 1.50--so we bought a zero water purifier and drink a lot of water--better for overall diet anyway
wait til the new min wage gets passed--
Tony D'Annunzio: Give me a coke.
Danny Noonan: One coke.
[gives Tony a bottle of Coke and 50 cents]
Tony D'Annunzio: Hey wait a minute. That's only 50 cents.
Danny Noonan: Yeah well Lou raised the price of coke he's been losing at the track.
Tony D'Annunzio: Well I ain't paying no 50 cents for no coke.
Danny Noonan: Oh then you ain't getting no coke. Know what I'm talking about?
Can't stop laughing! That comment was priceless Smegley!
bag of sawdust on the side? you know you want it.
Smegely - Hahaha! When I was 16 I worked at Wendy's. You would have these very obese people ordering two doublecheesburgers, large fries, large frosty about 3,000 calories and 200 grams of fat and of course a large diet coke.
This is true, the decline could indicate a shift in diet choices. One would have to look at all fast food options to compare the semi healthy options.
So Americans may actually be wising up. I'm shocked!
Yes, the shrinking portions and disproportionate ratio of meat/filler are driving people away.
About 2wice a year I would get this craving, that could only be satisfied by the flavor that is contained in the Big Mac. Maybe the occasional filet-o-fukushima. About half way through, that craving fades, and I am left wondering what the hell I was thinking.
The final fucking straw, was the last time I was forced to suffer the crave. The girl at the drive-thru informed me they no longer accept $100's. "It's safer for the store. We are less likely to get robbed that way."
They don't serve real food, why should they accept (real) money?
This is the root of the problem. Sheeple just don't get it. The last time the USD resembled "real money" was before TPTB got rid of the gold standard.
Every couple of years I'll eat at McD's just to remind myself what bad food tastes like....
I kind of like that dazed feeling I get when my pancreas shifts into overdrive. It is sort of saying: "not this shit again"
Flagit - Yeah you have a couple of $100 bills in your wallets these days in America people think your rich. Welcome to the new Mexico of America.
It wasn't the eatin it that was so bad, it was the shittin it out 5 minutes later that gave me pause...
Yea, its not the $8 meal I have a problem with.
It's the $10 in toilet paper I need afterwards.
McSawdust
Why eat that nutrition-less crap anyway?
It just hit me.....we need a Czar to keep them from doing it.
When I say them.....I actually mean YOU!
Instead of 'green shoots' we need 'grease shoots'......
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/10210327/McDouble-is-cheapest-an...
Who wants that disgusting chemical junk anyway?
given the 911 calls by those who dont "get it their way", i'd say there's healthy demand amongst the unhealthy set.
Maybe VH1 can do a "Where Are They Now" episode of the McDonalds characters.
I'm sure they are all suffering a myriad of disease due to years of bad diet.
Reminiscent of The Marlboro Man....
Meet Don "Iron Gut" Gorske, the man who ate 25,000 Big Macs. Not all at one sitting.
http://180degreehealth.com/don-gorske-big-mac-prediction/
McPertatoShake
Too damn cold to buy a Big Mac/
Wait until the new minimum wage increase kicks in. Short Mickie-D
Meet RoboBurgerFlipper!
Is test tube meat vegan? I mean they may have a future if it is...
Big arguement on that one but remember, veganism is politico-religous so the answer is likely no.
No, no, no, no. McDonald's sales down is GOOD news.
This OBVIOUSLY means everyone is doing SO WELL that they are now eating out at expensive restaurants.
Bullish!
I will take the Salmon Filet trio with Beluga Caviar. Oh yeah, make my Dom Perignon a jumbo.
I'll have the Spam egg sausage and Spam..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ6N5m8FpVg
McDonalds? Pfft. People are so rich that they are now dining at the Ritz. Forward.
Dey take EBT?
This problem could be solved if the government put a little more charge into those cards.
No. Generally speaking you can't use EBT cards for prepared foods. Only raw materials. I'm sure that will change at some point and all those scumbags I see at the grocery store will be at McD's.
Could it be that Americans are starting to get tired of eating that shit? Or maybe Ronald McDonald is not appealing to small kids these days.
The kids still love McDonalds. Every now and then we'll go thru the drive thru and I always pick Carls jr. The kids are screaming and kicking in back that they want to go to the McDonald's across the street.
Maybe some parenting is in order... just sayin'. When they pay, they can eat wherever the hell they want.
My kids like McDonalds too. They can't get enough chicken nuggets and fries. I have to admit their nuggests and fries are very tasty.
Try a Cheesy Anus Burger
Oops I meant Angus.
Is the special sauce KY?
GODDAMN YOU, I am now craving a sausage biscuit with cheese. McCheese, whatever. F*ck.
Suicide Blonde.....we knew you would breakdown.
Over 6 Billion Enslaved; We're Hatin' It!
Wait till you can get a side of ebola with those fries and then watch those sales drop.
I could use a McWhisky, with these green futures...
That's because bad news is good news. The weaker the economy gets.....the less tapering will continue.
Everyone knows the score. The whole thing is floated on Fed buybacks and printing. When that goes away....poof....there goes the stock market and the charade of the economy.
Tapering is just another word for controlled collapse.
Fuck McDonald's. They should change their signs to 50 Billion Poisoned!!!!
Wait until the Russians throw them out of Russia and the ukraine and then they will go under, They employ a lot of people and this is truley an American disater despite what you may think of their food.
760,000 US employees. That is just sad.
http://cdn.corporate.walmart.com/2e/cd/88c2ab6d4a7daf429123554ea92a/fy14...
All overnight silver gains wiped clean
https://www.tradingview.com/x/0VPKpemx/
All overnight Gold gains getting the beat down as well
https://www.tradingview.com/x/Hwu2ydN0/
The Fed is working hard this morning.
I think its a sign of the economy.....McDonalds is a great bellwether...they were a luxury that is being cut out right now..less workers buying the Bkfst or lunch at the drive thru...
People eat at MCD for convenience not because the food is good. If the minimum hourly wage workers who are steadily taking pay cuts by not keeping up with inflation intentionally inconvenience customers enough times then people will be less likely to return. If the manager is not right there cracking the whip, employees will intentionally slow play customers and dictate the amount of business, and their work. If you have 30 minutes for lunch and standing in a small line that isn't moving for 20 minutes, that person is likely to make other arrangements for lunch next time.
People have been trading down as items get more expensive. The Target shoppers are at Walmart, and the Walmart shoppers are at The Dollar Store. The question is, how do you trade down from McCrapple's?...... Roadkill?
I still remember your post about taking your family to IHOP and getting a 70 dollar tab. 70 bucks for pancakes...that stuck with me for some reason.
Unfortunately it didn't stick with my wife. She drug us there this past weekend. When she mentioned she wanted to go I said.... "Look, I will make you an omelette and pancakes" ( I'm a damn good cook) , but she love IHOP , and I love her so guess where we ended up going.
I smell an IHOP gift card for your wife's birthday present.
What can a guy do? My wife's pet name for me is Mr. Cave.
I haven't been to IHOP in six years for exactly this reason. It is a total RIPOFF!!! There is a little greasy spoon here in Hooter Dogville called the Sunshine and Rise Cafe that has pretty good coffee and a marginally reasonable ticket... Besides, they are friendly.
$70 for pancakes?
The have the kids sports and church pancake fundraisers for $5.00/per person.
screw it-when teh grandkids stay over, making morning pancakes is an activity and we throw in teh different fruits.
\I also have an old fashioned waffle maker (actual a couple of em) so every once in a while we make waffles which the kids do not see often.
we squeeze fresh juice and make it into a party. Only problem is my wife buys lo cal syrup , even the kids buy the real thing.
100% pure Grade A dark amber maple syrup or nothing in this family.
Who wants to drink thick HFCS?
Great in coffee too!
Fresh venison on the side of the road doesn't last past midmorning in my hick town.
heaven forbid, you actually cook up your own hamburger and slice up a potato and fry it in the frying pan yourself.
it's an old american past time called cooking.
Yeah, what a concept!
But try explaining it to a 20 something woman....
Folks is just dadgum lazy these days.
Dollar Tree is packed on Saturday mornings. Long cashier lines but I think that keeps the prices down.
Personally, I don't buy much merchandise new anymore; very rarely do from Target or Walmarts. First stop is always consignment store. Theys got everything and lots of stuff not Hencho de la China.
One of these days folks is gonna learn that it's cheaper and better (and not really a trade down) to eat at home especially when there's a get-together. Like the good old days. And there's always leftovers. You can't get that experience at McCrapple's.
I think they remember how mom used to buy dried beans, rice and one chicken. Fed the family of four for a week. Total cost these days is about $22.00. Add some cheap veggies and local fruit...
Banksters hate the independant.
I saw the manager of my local McDonalds outside by the road trying to wave people inside the store, pointing with a big foam arrow. Never saw that tactic before. Things are desperate.
Things will only get worse as Obamacare really kicks in next year.
McDonalds is full of grey hairs most of the day. They are dying off slowly but surely. The young crowd eats at Chipotle and Panera.
Microwave Restaurants. Zero cooking involved.
I stopped by a MCDonalds in Delaware at around 3 PM with my family on vacation. I thought at 3 PM the place would be empty. No. it was full of fat old people eating ice cream with their fat kids and fat grandkids. I saw some thin people who didn't fit in. They sat next to us and spoke French.
The scene from the movie Falling Down comes to mind
i wouldn't give that dollar meal to a stray cat.
"there are two types of people in this world. The able and the incompetent. I have no use for the latter" Howard Roark.
Food quality aside, ZH has it right on the affordability side. Of course, the inflation side is the real culprit. A couple years ago you could get a double cheeseburger for a buck. Then they dropped a slice of cheese calling it a McDouble for a buck. Then in the last nine months prices went to $1.89 for a double cheeseburger and $1.49 for a McDouble. That's a big jump for a population that got no wage increases. And while the price increase on big sandwiches was slightly less, those are now anywhere from $3.99 to well over $5.00. For the average American, Mickey D's is no longer value.
To be fair, I swung past a Hardee's (Carl's Jr) the other day. Had not been in quite a while, but had fond memories of their Six Dollar Burger that used to be just over $4.00. Bought just the burger - but thus time it cost me over $6.00 including tax!
Their McDouble was the best value you could eat for a buck. You couldn't make that at home for a buck. Probably couldn't do it for $1.49 either. Raising the prices certainly killed their sales. The consumer just doesn't have the cash.
6-pack of regular small white hamburger buns - $1.00 --> $0.17 per serving
1 lb USDA 85% lean beef - $4.00
*assume 2 oz per patty -> 8 patties max ---> $1.00 per serving
1 slice American cheese product - $0.05 per serving
2 dill pickle slices (to taste) - $0.02 per serving
onion bits - free
ketchup - free
salt - free
pepper - free
Total per serving ~$1.24
Seems you may be right.
On vacation, I took my family into a Sonic since we see the commercials, but there aren't any near our home. I was shocked at how expensive it was. Their burger meals were $8 and up. We left and went to McDonalds instead.
Walmart the same.
http://cdn.corporate.walmart.com/b7/28/f1d857d9437882f4a838f116be3d/fy15...
http://cdn.corporate.walmart.com/2e/cd/88c2ab6d4a7daf429123554ea92a/fy14...
maybe some of the fat a**es won't be so fat.
maybe some of them fat as**es will learn how to cook.
maybe the moon is made of green cheese.
Or BBQ spare ribs...
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/982961/
Can't afford McSalty's, can't afford bologna sandwiches and a bag of BBQ Grippo's.
What's next, can't afford the roller death at a Speedway gas station?
Long Ramen noodles and dry spagetti?
If you gots the time and some space I highly recommend a $1.99 pack of Waltham Butternut Squash seeds. Plant in loose soil (not just dirt) 120 days before the average first frost. If successful, each seed can give you 10 - 20 pound of butternuts.
We are in the process of getting out of town so we can do just that. Hopefully before the iZombie apocolypse.
Raising chickens, deer in our area to hunt and a garden do wonders for ones health.
God bless yall with good fortune and good health!
anybody here know what a kitchen is?
Yeah Basho, that's where people here in Texas cook up their meth before they go out for a Big Mac...
Question: Does Mickey D's accept EBT cards???
Where's the Mc Dungeon?
This is inevitable and it was predictable.
When fresh money goes only to few oligarchs who use it to harm other oligarchs,
Those few oligarchs use that money to expropriate oil, aluminum, iron ore, copper, mines, gold, silver etc from other oligarchs.
This is leads to reduction of world trade and misery which will get worse and worse and worse and worse.
Supply chains are feeling the strain.
It seems to me that only bullets on heads from oligarch to oligarch will solve this impass.
Untill then, enjoy the videogame, otherwise known as 'financial market'
MCD's in not cheap. It is expensive. Most people don't get that.
It is also foul beyond words. Who actually eats that crap.
+1 other restaurants have better food for not very much more.
also poor people are cooking for themselves more now
They better release a McSnap card quickly !!
Super Size me bitchez!
Maybe people are recognizng that mcdonalds has shitty/poison food...
Mc Spittle with extra wood pulp please>
Introducing, The McRod.
Your daily dose of iron.
I said stay down, bitch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=374NkeqzVyo
I had a sausage McMuffin this morning. Delicious chemicals and saw dust.
Going inside is fun. It is like being in South America, you can even make money in the place, give the wrong change and watch them screw it up.
But double check your order, because Sausage McMuffin sounds like Pancakes after all.
Did you get a blow job and your shirt ironed for $5buks? If not you're a piker...
No, however one time I did watch a women blow a vain shooting up in the bathroom. Blood everywhere. Cheap food and free entertainment. McLovin it!
Kramer just said people are rebeling against McD because it's not healthy LOL , got to give him credit for finding a way to not say the consumer tapped out.
Before Tyler and others here reach too many incorrect conclusions, one should point out that Chipotle’s business is soaring month after month beyond anything imaginable. A cheap burger is not what Americans now demand. With their 401Ks soaring, and limitless handouts for those without big portfolios, it only stands to reason that McD’s is done, while $8 burritos are in. With 5 kids in tow, a government sponsored trip to Chipotle only makes sense. Afterwards, head to Starbucks for treats at five bucks each. It is painfully obvious the wrong conclusion was reached. This is the New Normal.
It is painfully obvious you have no idea what the addressable market and/or size of Chiptole vs MCD is.
Is it possible we're missing the sarcasm? "Gov sponsored" is the key phrase.
Chip = 1600 locations McD = 14,150 US locations.
Any comments critical of McDonalds management are evidence of pure racism.
i've noticed how healthy my EBT customers are getting. They're down from 450 pounds to 400 and looking nasty!
Only two 44 ounce sodas rather than three, no more fritos but another corn product and topped off with some soft serv yogurt. Healthy and Good! You go girl!
I go for those sweet 49 cent hamburger deals. Feed a family of five for less than six dollars, and the kids love it. Just avoid their high margin add on sales of soda and fries and it's close to their cost.
I haven't seen an ongoing weekly "hamburger deal" at McDonalds since 1996 when regular burgers were $0.29 on Mondays and cheeseburgers were $0.39 on Tuesdays (or something like that). Maybe it was a local promotional thing only...
The dollar Tree store has cards for $.55 each. Helium party/occasion baloons for $1.00/ each.
Button batteries, 4 for $1.00. All sorts of other items for $1.00.
For Christmas and other holidays the place is packed.
I was having tires put on my car yesterday and visited the $ store. If you're smart there's some good deals. I bought some screw-drivers and chinese lanterns for Halloween. Damn near scared my Mother to death with a plastic Rat.
The masses don't have cash.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/youre-better-off-than-the-average-american...
"Only 48 percent said that they could easily handle an emergency expense of $400 without running a balance on their credit card. Almost a fifth said they simply could not come up with the funds, and a similar share said they would have to take on credit card debt. Others said they would either have to sell something (9 percent), ask a family member or friend for help (12 percent), or turn to a payday lender (4 percent) to come up with the money."
Ray Kroc is rolling in his grave.
It was several things that caused me to swear them off- expensive crappy food- even after a night of drinking, Michael (Sheena) Obammy's "healthy" interventions, and those obnoxious ghetto worship commercials they had in heavy rotation. That gender neutral white whimpyboy chortling abount comparing their sandwich to LeBron James- being so handsome, in your face, etc etc made me want to puke. I will NEVER give these libtards one red cent of my money. Too bad, too. I really liked eating their junk food every now and then in years past.
'Rise of the Machines' http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.nl/2014/08/heres-your-1500-per-hour-mcdonalds.html
Looks like my net worth. Couple of kids, big declines, financial crisis really big decline. Rebuild, rebuild, divorce...fuck. Never recovered...likely never will. Welcome to the new normal?
Have you seen the prices at Micky D's? Try and takeout your family for lunch or dinner. For 70% of the population that's livin. Yet, when it's $30, including taxes, and that's all the spare money you have it becomes a choice between gas for the car or rear end gas.
http://www.mcdonalds.com.pk/products/view/menu-pricelist
Smashburger is much better than MCD.
McDonald's needs to pay their employees $15 an hour. That should boost their sales.
It is not food. Factory shit repackaged as whatever you want it to look like.
People are remembering to cook for themselves. The beginning of self reliance?
sound like Mc Covery