McDonald’s is closing its 5 CosMc’s ‘pilot’ locations this summer… Because the bold ‘pilot’ program progressed to a logical end much faster than expected. But the McDream of challenging other players’ Custom and Fancy Bev focus will continue at mainstream McD’s…
We haven’t heard much about CosMc’s for months, now. Certainly not since the beginning of this year. What we have been hearing is that fancy and custom beverages have tanked with sector pioneers such Starbucks triggering major changes in some chains’ business models…
What they said
Now,in a surprise announcement, McD’s announced it’s going to ‘phase out’ it 5 Texas CosMc’s and single Illinois resto starting late this coming June.
“We’ve learned so much, so quickly from the CosMc’s test. As part of this next testing phase, starting in late June, we will be closing all stand-alone pilot CosMc’s locations on a rolling basis and discon-tinuing the CosMc’s app,” the unsigned statement declared.
“We cannot wait to share more about our beverage developments and tests in the future. Stay tuned as we continue to explore new horizons and bring fresh, exciting flavors to our fans! ”
Not a real resto, after all?
The announcement suggested that the closures were planned all along…
“What started as a belief that McDonald’s had the right to win in the fast-growing beverage space quickly came to life as a multi-location, small format, beverage-focused concept,” the closure an-nouncement states.
Whoa! I had to re-read that kine twice to be sure U’s taken it in correctly the first time. Seems to me that any legacy brand in an ultra-competitive environment, that claims it has a ‘right’ to win a new niche pioneered by competitors – especially newly established players – is suffering a severe case of market-share envy driven by a level of entitlement never seen in the history of the world before.
Almost sounds Trumpian…
“It allowed us to test new, bold flavors and different technologies and processes – without impacting the existing McDonald’s experience for customers and crew. By creating a Learning Lab – in a way that only McDonald’s can…”
Whoa, again! ‘In a way that only McDonald’s can…” There’s that Trumpian-tinged fanfare again. Is McD’s daring to say that the Fat Food ‘system’ is broken and they – and only they – can fix it?
Dialling it back…
Dialling it back to reality, the announcement goes on to enlarge… By creating a ‘Learning Lab’ (capital letters theirs), “the CosMc’s team was able to test-and-learn in real customer-facing environments, which allowed for greater agility and speed. Quick adds and edits to the menu based on feedback led to more-focused choices for our fans as the test continued.”
One not-unreasonable assertion in the statement explains, “[CosMc’s] allowed us to test new, bold flavors and different technologies and processes – without impacting the existing McDonald’s exper-ience for customers and crew.
My take
It appears that the best of the new beverage and snack ideas ideas tested at CosMc’s will eventually show up on mainstream McDonald’s menus. But opening 5 full-fledged, free-standing stores as a ‘Learning Lab’ seems like overkill.
What I think happened was… McD’s brain trust realized that its whole ‘store of the future’ concept – smaller building footprint, greater emphases on drive-thru, takeout and delivery, reducing human staff while increasing AI and robotics – was either before it’s time or just not working.
And the decision was made to give the entire episode a huge ‘spin’.
Ultimately, some poor low-level cog in the McWheel was assigned the unenviable task of cleaning up the mess. Like the ‘cleaner’ in an assassination squad who comes behind the shooters, picking up telltale cartridge casings, erasing footprints and just generally ‘making it look like an accident’.
But why a closure statement bearing such a strong sniff of ‘classic Trump ‘rally speech’ was ever approved for release, I’ll always wonder…
~ Maggie J.