McDonald’s is still trying with its beverage-first concept, CosMc’s
Can the drinks-focused concept revive store growth in the US? Probably not.
No doubt you remember where you were on December 7, 2023, the day McDonald’s introduced its beverage-first, mostly Texas-based spin-off chain, CosMc’s. But now, just over a year on, the fast-food icon is revising the restaurant concept slightly, shutting down three of its biggest locations and opening two smaller ones.
While the chain has been almost exclusively confined to the Lone Star State in the trial phase (the first store opened in a Chicago suburb; the subsequent six have all been set up in Texas), McDonald’s execs are clearly keen to continue their “journey through the beverage galaxy” in search of profit pools.
No more towns left to conquer
Though it may not feel like it, Mickey D’s closing stores in America has become a lot more common, with the 85-year-old chain’s restaurant tally stalling in recent years.
After growing relentlessly for decades, the number of stores with the golden arches above their doorway fell for the first time in 2015. Over the next six years, McDonald’s would go on to shed 912 net restaurants in the US, including 244 in 2021 alone, after the company reportedly looked to close struggling stores to boost its average sales figures.
Clearly, if you’re a McDonald’s executive tasked with finding new ways to grow the company’s footprint, you have a tough gig — especially on your home turf in the US. Does the answer to reinvigorating store growth lie in one of CosMc’s best-selling drinks, like the “Island Pick-Me-Up Punch” or “Sour Cherry Energy Burst”? Considering that the CosMc’s experiment has been going for just a year and it’s already getting downsized… maybe not.
Perhaps it’s just time to bring back the PlayPlaces!
