McDonald’s is set to open its first CosMc’s restaurant this week in Bolingbrook, Illinois in an effort to exploit one of the world’s most renowned food brands in the lucrative coffee shop sector.
By the end of 2024, the fast-food juggernaut intends to test 10 CosMc outlets in the U.S., including nine in Texas alone. After a year of data analysis, McDonald’s will choose whether to grow the spin-off chain or abandon the project and instead focus on the existing McCafés.
The company is currently promoting CosMc’s as a quick and easy place to get coffee or a snack, initially only as a drive-through. The menu has both new and classic foods like Churro Frappes and pretzel nibbles, but old classics like Egg McMuffins and M&M McFlurries will be available as well.
The cold, sweet beverage market, which accounts for the majority of Starbucks’ sales, appears to be McDonald’s primary emphasis. “This is a $100 billion category growing faster than the rest of the [informal eating-out segment] and with superior margins,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors during a presentation event on Wednesday.
“What would happen if a McDonald’s character from the 1980s that was part alien, part surfer, part robot — what would happen if this character were to open a restaurant in 2023?” Kempczinski asked. “The big story isn’t about CosMc’s, per se”, he added. “The big story is what it says about McDonald’s and our potential. To think, a little over a year ago, this was an idea, and this week we’re opening the first test site.”
McDonald’s has already attempted to diversify its business in the past, but such attempts have hardly proven effective. For instance, in the late 1990s it had acquired Boston Market, Donatos Pizza, and a portion of Chipotle Mexican Grill, but in less than ten years it was forced to cut ties with all of them due to the latters’ unprofitability.
Business is apparently booming for the Chicago-based fast food giant, which plans to open 9,000 more locations all over the world over the next four years. The majority of the outlets will be located in the United States, especially throughout the South.
According to the company’s ambitions, which were revealed on Tuesday, there would be 50,000 McDonald’s locations in more than 118 countries by 2027.
