McDonald’s Zeros In On Renovating Canadian Stores

A few months after unveiling its new prototype in Tampa for U.S. stores, McDonald’s Corp. is pumping $1 billion into renovating its 1,400 Canadian restaurants.

The Oak Brook, Ill., chain, already revamping the look in 800 of its 14,000 U.S. outlets this year, is moving quickly on the Canadian renovations. It plans to upgrade more than half of the locations by the end of the year, and most of the others by the end of 2012. Construction has already been completed in some stores in Montreal and Toronto.

The Canadian revamp’s thrust is similar to that of the U.S. model: speed up drive-through and production times and create a more comfortable, casual dining atmosphere.

The chain will change its kitchen floorplan and add new equipment to help staffers better manage custom orders and facilitate menu changes, including its expanding coffee business. FER Fortnightly reported on the U.S. renovations in its May 26 edition. The front of the house is getting the biggest investment toward making the units more “relevant,” including leather seating, fireplaces and flat-screen TVs. Dining rooms will be divided to accommodate for large groups and those who want to linger over the free Wi-Fi access. New color schemes, stone and tile accents and wood tones, will accentuate "splashes" of the chain’s traditional red and yellow colors.