Cedar Rapids, IA, USA  
Digital Edition Digital Edition
Log in Log In My Account My Account
Subscribe Today
The Gazette The Gazette
The Gazette The Gazette
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Food & Drink
  • Business
Digital Edition Digital Edition
Log in Log In My Account My Account
Subscribe
CLOSE
The Gazette
Subscribe
My Account
  • News
    • All News
    • Election 2020
    • Coronavirus
    • Business News
    • Community
    • Crime and Courts
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Nation and World
    • Time Machine
    • Search Archive

    Our Journalists

    • Rod Boshart
    • Lee Hermiston
    • Erin Jordan
    • James Q. Lynch
    • Trish Mehaffey
    • Vanessa Miller
    • Kat Russell
    • Grace King
    • John Steppe
    • Gage Miskimen
    • Marissa Payne
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Iowa Hawkeyes
    • Hawkeye Football
    • Hawkeye Basketball
    • Prep Sports
    • Prep Volleyball
    • Prep Football
    • Prep Basketball
    • Prep Wrestling
    • Iowa State Cyclones
    • UNI Panthers
    • Small College Sports
    • Minor League Sports
    • Outdoors

    Sports Desk

    • Mike Hlas
    • Jeff Johnson
    • Jeff Linder
    • J.R. Ogden
    • K.J. Pilcher
    • Leah Vann
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Editorial Mission
    • Guest Columnists
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Political Cartoons
    • Staff Columnists
    • Staff Editorials
    • Submit a Letter or Column

    Our Columnists

    • Todd Dorman
    • Adam Sullivan
  • Food and Drink
    • All Food and Drink
    • Chew on This
    • Recipes
    • Restaurants
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Business Notes
    • Companies
    • Personal Finance
    • Economy
    • Employment
    • Energy
    • Manufacturing
    • Openings & Closures
    • Real Estate
    • Retail
    • Small Business
    • Transportation

    Our Journalists

    • Rod Boshart
    • Erin Jordan
    • John Steppe
  • Obituaries
    • All Obituaries
    • In Memory Of
    • Submit an Obituary
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • Daily News Podcast
    • Fact Checker
    • Hlastradamus Odds
    • Iowa Prep Sports
    • On Iowa
    • On Iowa Politics
    • On UNI
    • Pinning Combination
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Art
    • Books
    • Museums & Galleries
    • Music
    • Theater
    • Things To Do
  • Living
    • All Living
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Milestones
    • People & Places
    • Pets & Animals
    • Recreation
    • Religion & Belief
    • Travel

    Our Writers

    • Diana Nollen
  • Kids Gazette
    • See All
    • Kids Cooking Series
    • Kids Galleries
    • Printables
    • Activities
    • Articles
    • Submissions
    • Resources
  • Photos
    • All Photos and Videos
    • The Iowa Photo
    • Photo Store

    Our Photojournalists

    • Andy Abeyta
    • Liz Martin
    • Rebecca Miller
    • Jim Slosiarek
    • Gazette Visuals
  • Milestones
    • All Milestones
    • Anniversaries
    • Days To Remember
    • Engagements
    • Holidays
    • In Remembrance
    • New Arrivals
    • Thank Yous
    • Submit a Milestone
  • Data
    • Arrests
    • Building Permits
    • Interactive Maps & Charts
    • Salaries
  • Gazette Sites
    • Classifieds
    • Corridor Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Gazette Gives Back
    • Gazette Rewards
    • Gazette Store
    • Green Gazette
    • HER
    • Iowa Wedding Experience
    • Holiday Light Finder
    • Hoopla
    • Iowa Ideas
    • Photo Store
  • Special Events
  • Special Sections
  • Other
    • About The Gazette
    • Archives
    • Article Removal
    • Business Directory
    • CR Arrest Database
    • Mobile Apps
    • Customer Care
    • Order Back Issues
    • Privacy Policies
    • Puzzle Answers
    • Sponsorship Requests
    • Submit a Letter
    • Weather
Daily News PodcastDaily News Podcast
Daily NewslettersDaily Newsletters
Log out

FOLLOW US

The Gazette
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Food and Drink
  • Business
  • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
  • Entertainment
  • Living
  • Kids Gazette
  • Photos
  • Milestones
  • Data
  • Gazette Sites
  • Special Events
  • Special Sections
  • Other
  • All News
  • Election 2020
  • Coronavirus
  • Business News
  • Community
  • Crime and Courts
  • Education
  • Government
  • Health
  • Nation and World
  • Time Machine
  • Search Archive

Our Journalists

  • Rod Boshart
  • Lee Hermiston
  • Erin Jordan
  • James Q. Lynch
  • Trish Mehaffey
  • Vanessa Miller
  • Kat Russell
  • Grace King
  • John Steppe
  • Gage Miskimen
  • Marissa Payne
  • All Sports
  • Iowa Hawkeyes
  • Hawkeye Football
  • Hawkeye Basketball
  • Prep Sports
  • Prep Volleyball
  • Prep Football
  • Prep Basketball
  • Prep Wrestling
  • Iowa State Cyclones
  • UNI Panthers
  • Small College Sports
  • Minor League Sports
  • Outdoors

Sports Desk

  • Mike Hlas
  • Jeff Johnson
  • Jeff Linder
  • J.R. Ogden
  • K.J. Pilcher
  • Leah Vann
  • All Opinion
  • Editorial Mission
  • Guest Columnists
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Political Cartoons
  • Staff Columnists
  • Staff Editorials
  • Submit a Letter or Column

Our Columnists

  • Todd Dorman
  • Adam Sullivan
  • All Food and Drink
  • Chew on This
  • Recipes
  • Restaurants
  • All Business
  • Agriculture
  • Business Notes
  • Companies
  • Personal Finance
  • Economy
  • Employment
  • Energy
  • Manufacturing
  • Openings & Closures
  • Real Estate
  • Retail
  • Small Business
  • Transportation

Our Journalists

  • Rod Boshart
  • Erin Jordan
  • John Steppe
  • All Obituaries
  • In Memory Of
  • Submit an Obituary
  • All Podcasts
  • Daily News Podcast
  • Fact Checker
  • Hlastradamus Odds
  • Iowa Prep Sports
  • On Iowa
  • On Iowa Politics
  • On UNI
  • Pinning Combination
  • All Entertainment
  • Art
  • Books
  • Museums & Galleries
  • Music
  • Theater
  • Things To Do
  • All Living
  • Health & Wellness
  • Home & Garden
  • Milestones
  • People & Places
  • Pets & Animals
  • Recreation
  • Religion & Belief
  • Travel

Our Writers

  • Diana Nollen
  • See All
  • Kids Cooking Series
  • Kids Galleries
  • Printables
  • Activities
  • Articles
  • Submissions
  • Resources
  • All Photos and Videos
  • The Iowa Photo
  • Photo Store

Our Photojournalists

  • Andy Abeyta
  • Liz Martin
  • Rebecca Miller
  • Jim Slosiarek
  • Gazette Visuals
  • All Milestones
  • Anniversaries
  • Days To Remember
  • Engagements
  • Holidays
  • In Remembrance
  • New Arrivals
  • Thank Yous
  • Submit a Milestone
  • Arrests
  • Building Permits
  • Interactive Maps & Charts
  • Salaries
  • Classifieds
  • Corridor Careers
  • Garage Sales
  • Gazette Gives Back
  • Gazette Rewards
  • Gazette Store
  • Green Gazette
  • HER
  • Iowa Wedding Experience
  • Holiday Light Finder
  • Hoopla
  • Iowa Ideas
  • Photo Store
  • About The Gazette
  • Archives
  • Article Removal
  • Business Directory
  • CR Arrest Database
  • Mobile Apps
  • Customer Care
  • Order Back Issues
  • Privacy Policies
  • Puzzle Answers
  • Sponsorship Requests
  • Submit a Letter
  • Weather
Daily News PodcastDaily News Podcast Daily NewslettersDaily Newsletters
LOG OUT

FOLLOW US

More Stories

Marion school board votes 5-2 to no longer consider ’Mavericks’

University of Iowa presidential finalist Osofsky tackles questions of free…

24-hour COVID-19 vaccine clinic to take place this weekend

US recommends 'pause' for J&J COVID-19 vaccine over clot reports

Cedar Rapids clinic to receive federal COVID-19 allocation starting this…

Public funeral in Independence planned Friday for slain Iowa trooper…

'A way to start over again’: Collaboration aims to replant…

House GOP calls for freezing funding for ‘bloated’ regents universities

Home / News / Nation and World

McDonald’s weighs the return of all-day breakfast

Chicago Tribune Oct. 8, 2020 3:56 pm Updated: Oct. 8, 2020 3:56 pm
McDonald’s weighs the return of all-day breakfast

All-day breakfast was a major hit for fans of McDonald's and a major headache for franchisees.

As the fast-food giant weighs whether to bring it back from its pandemic hiatus, one fact has recently become apparent: The company doesn't need to offer round-the-clock McGriddles and Egg McMuffins to grow sales.

Chicago-based McDonald's on Thursday said sales in U.S. restaurants open at least 13 months grew 4.6 percent during the three months that ended in September, exceeding Wall Street's expectations.

That's also a sharp reversal from the 8.7 percent decline that occurred during the previous quarter.

Large group orders and a busier dinner business drove the boost, while overall guest counts remain down.

McDonald's said sales growth accelerated into the double digits in September, when it did a promotion with rapper Travis Scott.

The 13-month measure removes the effect of new openings and closings.

McDonald's, which won't announce third-quarter earnings until Nov. 9, offered the advance look at its performance because the earnings release is later than usual.

Sales were down 2.2 percent globally.

For McDonald's, the results suggest a recovery - after sales were battered by a pandemic that meant closed dining rooms and the disappearance of commuters as workplaces shut down.

But things are not back to normal. Just 2,000 of its 14,000 U.S. dining rooms are open. McDonald's in July paused its reopening process as COVID-19 cases surged.

Drive-through, which before the pandemic comprised about two-thirds of sales, now is responsible for 90 percent.

The company has focused on shortening wait times, long an Achilles' heel, and in June the wait was 20 seconds shorter than the year before.

It credits the use of artificial intelligence in its digital menu boards to suggest items to consumers in the form of a picture, so employees don't have to spend time doing it, as well as the removal of menu items that took long to prepare.

The company, which stopped offering items such as salads and grilled chicken sandwiches, will be 'very thoughtful and judicious” in deciding what is worth reintroducing to the menu, said Joe Ehrlinger, president of McDonald's USA.

That also goes for all-day breakfast, a popular offering introduced in 2015 that was halted in March to help streamline operations.

If all-day breakfast does come back, it may not offer as many items or be served at all times as it did before.

'Compelling facts indicate it doesn't actually need to be 24 hours and it can cut off at some point in the afternoon,” Ehrlinger said.

'And that would make more sense from a consumer and franchisee perspective.”

The company is working with franchisees to weigh whether the revenue benefits of all-day breakfast made it worth the complexity it added to their operations.

'You can see by the improvements that we had this quarter that we can really grow this business and we don't need all-day breakfast to do that,” he said.

Meanwhile, the company still is fighting for morning breakfast customers, a contingent that dwindled with the loss of commutes just as Wendy's launched its own breakfast menu.

McDonald's this week announced it is introducing apple fritters, blueberry muffins and cinnamon rolls to its bakery menu, the first bakery additions in eight years, which will be available any time of day.(

McDonald's says sales in U.S. restaurants open at least 13 months grew 4.6 percent during the three months that ended in September (Bloomberg)

Trending

  • Ramadan starts tonight. An eighth-grader explains what it’s like to…

    Grace King

  • 24-hour vaccine clinic in Cedar Rapids this weekend open to…

    Michaela Ramm

  • University of Iowa presidential finalist Osofsky tackles questions of free…

    Vanessa Miller

  • California organist with Iowa ties fires up Paramount’s Mighty Wurlitzer…

    Diana Nollen

  • House GOP calls for freezing funding for ‘bloated’ regents universities

    James Q. Lynch

Give us feedback

We work hard to provide fair, accurate coverage because we value your trust. If you find an error or omission in our reporting, please tell us here.

Submit a story idea

Do you have a story idea that we should look into? Please tell us here.

Related Stories

Biden vows enough vaccine for all US adults by end…

Biden vows enough vaccine for all US adults by end…

By Zeke Miller, Linda A. Johnson and Jonathan Lemire, Associated Press Nation and World Mar. 2, 2021 4:08 pm

US COVID-19 deaths top 400,000 as Trump leaves office

US COVID-19 deaths top 400,000 as Trump leaves office

By Adam Geller and Janie Har, Associated Press Nation and World Jan. 19, 2021 5:48 pm

Activists fear Biden’s lack of commitment to minimum wage hike

Activists fear Biden’s lack of commitment to minimum wage hike

Associated Press Nation and World Feb. 15, 2021 2:58 pm

Nation & World

Man rams car into 2 Capitol police; 1 officer, driver…

Man rams car into 2 Capitol police; 1 officer, driver…

By Michael Balsamo, Nomaan Merchant And Colleen Long, Associated Press

Nation and World Apr. 2, 2021 3:57 pm

Biden maps $174 billion path for EV boom

Biden maps $174 billion path for EV boom

Bloomberg News

Nation and World Apr. 1, 2021 4:17 pm

Judge rejects rule that let pork plants speed production lines

Judge rejects rule that let pork plants speed production lines

Associated Press

Nation and World Apr. 1, 2021 3:04 pm

U.S. jobless claims rise to 719,000

U.S. jobless claims rise to 719,000

Associated Press

Nation and World Apr. 1, 2021 3:03 pm

News

Time Machine: Train rides were a treat for Eastern Iowa…

Time Machine: Train rides were a treat for Eastern Iowa…

Diane Fannon-Langton

History Apr. 12, 2021 5:33 pm

Public funeral in Independence planned Friday for slain Iowa trooper…

Public funeral in Independence planned Friday for slain Iowa trooper…

Associated Press

Crime and Courts 53m ago

US recommends 'pause' for J&J COVID-19 vaccine over clot reports

US recommends 'pause' for J&J COVID-19 vaccine over clot reports

Associated Press

Health Care and Medicine 90m ago

Virtual EcoFest focuses on tree replenishment for Earth Day

Virtual EcoFest focuses on tree replenishment for Earth Day

Elijah Decious

Community 3h ago

Sports

Prairie boys, Solon girls stay on top in area track…

Prairie boys, Solon girls stay on top in area track…

Jeff Linder

Sports 2m ago

Kelly Proesch finds her own niche, writes her own success…

Kelly Proesch finds her own niche, writes her own success…

Jeff Linder

Sports Apr. 12, 2021 9:21 pm

Kirkwood ready for national volleyball tournament

Kirkwood ready for national volleyball tournament

K.J. Pilcher

Sports Apr. 12, 2021 7:42 pm

Enyi Uwazurike taking on bigger leadership role for Iowa State

Enyi Uwazurike taking on bigger leadership role for Iowa State

Ben Visser

Sports Apr. 12, 2021 6:49 pm

Opinion

Reynolds puts politics before people in passport debate

Reynolds puts politics before people in passport debate

Bruce Lear

Guest Columnists 90m ago

Most Iowa Republicans plan to get jabbed — so should…

Most Iowa Republicans plan to get jabbed — so should…

Adam Sullivan

Opinion Apr. 12, 2021 3:06 pm

Women in agriculture hit hard by pandemic

Women in agriculture hit hard by pandemic

Sara Todd

Opinion Apr. 12, 2021 2:04 pm

How Iowa can stay in front of the next tech…

How Iowa can stay in front of the next tech…

Brent Skorup and Patricia Patnode

Opinion Apr. 12, 2021 2:03 pm

FOLLOW US

The Gazette is Iowa’s independent, employee-owned source for local, state, and national news coverage.

© 2021 The Gazette

All Rights Reserved.

  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy
  • Web Accessibility

Contact Us

  • 116 3rd St SE
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
  • customercare@thegazette.com
  • (319) 398-8333
  • Live Chat

Links

  • Puzzle Answers
  • CR Arrest Database
  • Article Removal Request
  • Archives
  • Green Gazette
  • Corridor Careers Jobs
  • Work at The Gazette
  • Customer Care

© 2021 The Gazette

All Rights Reserved.

  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy
  • Web Accessibility
Folience A Folience Company