From Deseret News archives:
New McDonald's goes upscale
Utah restaurant is a prototype of the new image chain envisions
And when it comes time to throw the trash away, look out.
A motion-detecting, automatic-opening garbage receptacle and a robotic voice saying "thank you" and "please wait" might make you wonder where you are.
The three-week-old restaurant in Saratoga Springs is the first of its kind in Utah, but as a prototype of a McDonald's image revolution that will soon be sweeping the world, the atmosphere could soon become familiar.
"I just love (customers) to come in and say, 'Wow, this isn't your typical McDonald's,"' said owner and operator Rob Sparrer, whose family owns 24 other McDonald's in Utah and Salt Lake counties. "We've changed the look of our lobbies to be a little more comfortable, to be a place where people want to come to sit down and enjoy a meal. ... We're just really kind of trying to make (the atmosphere) a little more relevant to our customers."
Making the restaurant more relevant to customers means making McDonald's more upscale, Sparrer said, with trendy, upholstered booths, a stone fireplace and comfy lounge chairs.
Instead of a cardboard cutout of the "Hamburglar" next to the counter, there's a bowl full of Granny Smith apples and a glass display of salads. There are warm tones of sage green and brown, not the traditional bright yellow and red.
Some new and remodeled McDonald's restaurants will feature plasma screens playing the news, and others will have wireless Internet connections. Sparrer says Saratoga Springs' restaurant will have a wireless connection as soon as the area's infrastructure is installed.
"People have changed, their tastes have changed," McDonald's spokeswoman Barbara Schmeitt said about the reason for the company's makeover. "It's like everything else. You've got to start at the cutting edge and be progressive, and as people have changed, McDonald's has responded to their tastes."
The move by McDonald's to gain the pop culture status of Starbucks and the iPod says something about American consumers, says Kerry Soper, director of American Studies at Brigham Young University.
As the Internet has become more prevalent, consumers have become more savvy, informed and picky, Soper says. Consumers who want to represent their individual tastes and personality as honed by catchy mass-marketing might shun going somewhere that is predictable and old in favor of a place that is different and trendy.
Comments
- Aggies beat Spartans in snowy Logan 4:31 a.m.
- TCU 55, Utah 28 4:24 a.m.
- BYU 24, New Mexico 19 4:21 a.m.
- Jazz game at a glance 3:00 a.m.
- Real Salt Lake: Game at a glance 3:00 a.m.
- Stanford ends Y's soccer season 2:20 a.m.
- Jazz hope D-Will returns soon 2:19 a.m.
- Snow, SUU lose 2:18 a.m.
- Toone saves day for Wildcats 2:15 a.m.
- Win in New Mexico good for Y? 2:15 a.m.
- Apostle's wife felt comfort in attack
- Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
- Short-handed Jazz fly past Sixers
- D-Will home for daughter
- Utes excited for 'dream' game
- Crash on snowy road kills woman
- Bench proves fruitful for Y.
- BYU happy to escape with victory
- GameDay in Fort Worth
- Born of water and the spirit
- SLC council OKs gay rights policies
358 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
200 - BYU happy to escape with victory
194 - Will state consider gay rights law?
148 - TCU creams U.
134 - Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
130 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
129 - Utes remain silent about BCS
120 - Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges
106 - Celtics crush Jazz
104
If you are looking for a bird on the cheap, the following specials from...
Maybe someone out there can help me understand how raising the state...
So Great!!! So Proud - Love RSL - Bring Home The CUP!!!!!
mr cannon's bold assertation that the purpose of the first ammendemnt as...
Great great great game!!!! Nicky Rimando is a god! We're the most complete...
I had the game on DVR and just watched it. That was the most exciting game...
financially cannot this year, but I will watch loyally, how great to hear...
This is hardly surprising. Bennett has a remarkable arrogance which is also...
I guess that is why "they play the game" as Herman Edwards would say.. ...
What was the score of the LSU vs LA tech game? Alot closer than you'd like to...
Has Fedor not said that THIS IS OUR YEAR all year long? Go back and...
This is just a small glimpse of the future with Obamacare: corruption, waste...



You can be the first to comment on this story.