In a bid to tackle the mid-afternoon sales slump and compete with popular coffee chains like Starbucks, McDonald’s is set to launch a unique retro-style restaurant concept named CosMc’s.
The fast-food giant revealed plans to introduce its first pilot site in a Chicago suburb near its headquarters this month, strategically targeting the 3pm slump when customer traffic typically dwindles.
CosMc’s boasts a distinctive menu featuring specialty lemonades, blended drinks and teas, offering flavours like “popping pear slush” and “tropical spiceade”.
Customers can customise their beverages with options such as tapioca pearls, flavoured syrups and energy or vitamin C shots.
Alongside the beverage lineup, the menu will include a condensed selection of food items, including McDonald’s classic egg McMuffin sandwiches, hash browns, pretzel bites, doughnuts, cookies, ice creams and innovative additions like spicy queso and avocado tomatillo sandwiches.
McDonald’s plans to test the CosMc concept with the opening of about 10 locations in Texas by the end of the next year. The company will closely analyse the results of this trial for at least a year before deciding on potential expansion.
According to Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s President and CEO, CosMc’s aims to tap into a rapidly growing market, boasting superior margins compared to casual dining. He said, “This is a $100bn category that’s growing faster than the rest of [casual dining] and with superior margins. And it’s a space that we believe we have the right to win.”
The new stores draw inspiration from the late 1980s character CosMc, a part-space alien, part-robot featured in McDonald’s advertisements until the early 1990s.
The CosMc’s pilot launch was disclosed during a conference where McDonald’s outlined an ambitious plan to open nearly 10,000 new restaurants worldwide over the next four years.
This expansion will bring McDonald’s total store count to 50,000, positioning the company in a competitive stance against Starbucks, which aims to reach 55,000 stores globally by 2030.
McDonald’s intends to open 900 new stores in the US and 1,900 in international markets, including Canada, Germany, the UK and Australia, with an additional 7,000 stores in international markets operated by licensees, with a significant focus on China.
[Image via McDonad’s]