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Burger King Worldwide barely had an opportunity to feel good about strong full-year 2012 results that validate last year’s ambitious menu makeover before announcing that it needs to adjust menu/marketing strategies to deal with a slower Q1 2013. In today’s quarterly earnings call with analysts, Burger King executives reported a 3.2% rise in global same-store [...]

McDonald’s Corp. CEO Don Thompson pledged that the world’s largest restaurant brand will be more aggressive this year in its pursuit of sales and customers. This comes as the company announced global same-store sales that were up 3.1% for full-year 2012 despite Q4 comps that rose just 0.1%. He warned that January 2013 comp sales [...]

Wendy’s is confronting a “fiscal cliff” of its own but has done a better job of negotiating its less-dire version than has Congress. One of the chain’s resolutions for 2013 has been to create a new two-tier value menu to replace the ineffective My 99¢ Everyday Value Menu. The Right Price Right Size Value Menu [...]

No one responds faster to trouble in the marketplace than McDonald’s. As expected, the QSR burger leader has answered October’s sales drop—its first monthly decline in nine years—with a quick menu infusion that focuses on the low-end of the price spectrum. To boost customer traffic, McDonald’s has added the new Grilled Onion Cheddar burger (which [...]

Last month, McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson responded to a disappointing earnings report by promising to make “tactical adjustments” to build customer traffic. The test of the Egg White Delight McMuffin reported here last week was one example. Now more are coming clear. ◙  In Northern California, McDonald’s is trying a trio of jazzed up Quarter [...]

Quarterly earnings conference calls by Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, The Wendy’s Company and Jack in the Box provided interesting snapshots of where the burger-restaurant business stood through the first half of 2012. Same-store sales reports were positive if not stellar. Red Robin’s comp sales for it Q2 ended July 8 were up 0.8% thanks to [...]

[Updated with McDonald's Corp. comment] With quick-service restaurant competition heavily dependent on the buzz and interest generated by new products, both McDonald’s and Burger King are auditioning new limited-time menu stars. Getting a tryout at McDonald’s is a three-item line of McWraps, while Burger King is looking at a new value-priced item, the $1 BK [...]

McDonald’s has “regrouped” its U.S. menu, gathering a variety of its lower-calorie—and often lower-price—items and branding this aggregation as a Favorites Under 400 Calories menu. To encourage customers to order these foods and beverages, some of the items carry instant-win game pieces for McDonald’s “Win When the U.S. Wins Gold” promotion, which begins tomorrow. Game [...]

Jim Skinner’s last McDonald’s Corp. shareholders meeting as its CEO today followed the script of so many meetings that preceded it. Skinner and Don Thompson—McDonald’s president-COO, who succeeds him as CEO on July 1—vowed to stay a course that has been reaping rewards (such as the 8.9% jump in Q1 comp sales). A parade of [...]

Meet Gregory. If he looks familiar, it may be because he looks like the weary history teacher we all had in high school. If you were especially unlucky he also was your counselor who never really knew your name. And didn’t care. Yep, him. His is the face McDonald’s has chosen to represent the new [...]

Just when every other QSR thought it was safe to bring out a couple of premium-price items to bolster their bottom lines, McDonald’s cuts them off at the knees by casually dropping the bomb that it’s going to revamp its value-menu lineup. And that was right after McDonald’s had totally dunked on QSR competitors by [...]