At last week's investment meeting at McDonald's Corp., Oak Brook, IL, CEO Jim Skinner and members of senior management described the company's priorities to keep driving sales growth, market share and returns through a strategic focus on customers and restaurants. McDonald's Plan to Win strategy includes initatives to open some 1,000 new restaurants and re-image 2,300 existing locations worldwide in 2010 and to speed up service, among other plans.
Says COO Ralph Alvarez, "We will continue to pursue opportunities to extend our relevance with a particular emphasis on three key areas: service enhancements, restaurant reimaging and menu innovation. With service, we will leverage technology to make it easier for managers and crew to quickly and accurately serve the customer. To enhance brand perceptions and drive higher sales and returns, we're accelerating our interior and exterior reimaging efforts around the world. And we are innovating at every tier of our menu to sustain our momentum and create excitement for our customers."
Focused on the future, the company is continuing to try out new menu items, and plans to invest $2.4 billion on capital projects next year as part of the strategy to continue growing as the worldwide economy improves. McDonald's is also testing Mac snack wraps (the insides of a Big Mac enclosed within a flour tortilla, rather than a bun), smaller salads and à la mode desserts.
Says Skinner, "We expect, because of the investment we made during the downturn, that we will come out the other end in better shape."

SOURCE McDonald's Corp.
http://www.mcdonalds.com