McD reimaging boosts franchisee’s business

Bryan Consolo, a three-unit McDonald’s franchisee in northern Illinois, immediately received an “overwhelmingly positive” response from regular customers when his restaurant in Mundelein, Ill., finished a complete reimaging in May 2011. Consolo said he knew the remodeled unit had made his McDonald’s business more contemporary and relevant when a family in the dining room told him the new décor reminded them of upgraded McDonald’s restaurants they saw during a recent vacation to Europe. He even received an award from the city of Mundelein for helping beautify and revitalize its downtown area. But even more gratifying than compliments on the restaurant’s new look is the sales and traffic lift in the dining room and at the double drive-thru, Consolo said. “I’ve been in the McDonald’s system for 27 years, and this is the best restaurant modernization program we’ve ever done together,” he said. The new image, completed over eight weeks without any operating days lost to closure, cost less than half what a new build would have, Consolo said. McDonald’s Corp. contributed 40 percent to 45 percent toward his location’s remodel, which is the company’s standard practice during its years-long reimaging effort. Max Carmona, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based senior director of U.S. restaurant design for McDonald’s, said the Mundelein unit’s amenities — including flexible seating, a double drive-thru, flat-screen TVs and Wi-Fi areas — make it and other reimaged locations more relevant in consumers’ everyday lives. The company said late last year it would remodel 800 locations in the United States in 2012. Consolo and Carmona gave Nation’s Restaurant News a tour of the fully reimaged unit’s highlights.