A Brief History Of McDonald’s

History of McDonald’s starts an American fast food chain that was founded in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, USA, by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald. They changed the name of their business to a hamburger stand and later made it into a franchise. The Golden Arches logo was first used at a site in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953. A businessman named Ray Kroc joined the company as a licensed agent in 1955. He later bought out the McDonald brothers in 1961. It used to be based in Oak Brook, Illinois, but in June 2018, it moved to nearby Chicago. 

McDonald’s is one of the largest and well known fast food restaurant chain round the world. It has more than 40000 outlets, in 100 different countries and it services 69 million customers daily. Let get into how it all started.

The McDonald’s brothers (“Dick” and “Mac”) get into fast food business as a team in 1937, by starting their hot dog stand. In 1940 they open first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino California.

In 1948, they reorganized the business, and McDonald’s restaurant with the goal of making a lot of food at low prices was introduced. The brothers came up with a simple, effective layout that they called the “Speedee Service System” in 1948. It had a self-service counter that got rid of the need for waiters and waitresses. McDonald’s was a huge success, and the brothers open 10 more restaurants after their original one in San Bernardino.

In 1948, the McDonald brothers figured out that selling hamburgers was where most of their money was coming from. They shut down their popular carhop drive-in to set up a more streamlined system with just apple pie, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, potato chips, coffee, ice cream, and soft drinks on the menu.

In 1954, Ray Kroc, who sold a certain kind of milkshake mixer, was interested in the McDonald brothers’ need for eight mixers. Kroc became a business agent for the brothers when he saw that their restaurant idea had a lot of potential. Kroc opened the first McDonald’s restaurant east of the Mississippi River in Des Plaines, Illinois, in April 1955. This is also where he started McDonald’s Systems, Inc., which later became McDonald’s Corporation. McDonald’s was bought out by Kroc in 1961.

Kroc pays $2.7 million, which is about $27.7 million in 2024, to the McDonald brothers. They kept their first business and changed its name to Big M. After that, Kroc opened a close McDonald’s that competes with them.

Kroc and Sonneborn had different ideas about how to grow the business, which caused Sonneborn to quit in 1967. Kroc became the founder and CEO of the company. Herman Petty was the first African American to open a McDonald’s franchise in 1968. Kroc knew that franchisees were key to the success of the business, so he set strict rules for how each McDonald’s should be run, from making the food to cleaning up. In the 1960s, McDonald’s was very successful because it was good at marketing and could change its plans quickly to meet customer needs.

McDonald’s added the Big Mac to its national menu in 1968. The famous burger is said to have become the company’s best-selling item after French fries.

In the 1960s, the chain updated its logo and finally introduced the famous double-arch M, which became its enduring symbol and one of the most recognizable logos in the world. It was based on the tall yellow arches that had been on the roofs of earlier McDonald’s restaurants.

It was in Arizona in 1975 that the first drive-through window opened at a McDonald’s. This feature quickly spread to all McDonald’s.

In the 1990s, McDonald’s grew so quickly that it was said a new one opened somewhere in the world every five hours. It really did become the most famous family restaurant because it focused on cheap food, fun, and flavors that both kids and adults liked. There used to be only one McDonald’s in San Bernardino, California. Now, there are over 40,000 sites in more than 100 countries, making it an internationally renowned fast-food chain.

McDonald’s has been able to adapt to different tastes and countries. In India, for example, the company has a menu that is 50% vegetarian. It has items like the McAloo Tikki burger, which is made with a spiced potato and pea meat. In Japan, McDonald’s has a burger called a “Teriyaki Burger” that is topped with mayonnaise and teriyaki sauce.
Overall, McDonald’s global growth is due to its successful strategy for international development and its ability to adapt to different tastes and cultures.

McDonald’s has also added more items to its menu over the years. Also, McDonald’s restaurants in other countries changed their menus to fit the tastes and habits of the people there.

Late in the 20th century, McDonald’s expanded its business beyond hamburgers. In the US, it bought Chipotle Mexican Grill (1998), Donatos Pizza (1999), and Boston Market (2000). In the UK, it bought Aroma Cafe (1999) and a stake in the sandwich chain Pret a Manger (2001). By late 2008, though, McDonald’s no longer owned or had a stock in any of those businesses. Instead, it was focusing on its own brand.