• CthulhusIntern [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Keep in mind, even franchisees get assistance from corporate, which includes getting the food. So, without completely changing the menu and making homemade food, pretty difficult.

    Of course, if they did that, Russians would remember this time as when McDonald's was the best it ever was.

    • TraschcanOfIdeology [they/them, comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I think the largest part of it would be finding and closing agreements with suppliers. The restaurants would have to associate in smaller councils to be able to get economies of scale and organize logistics in a more organized manner. They could be called "soviets"

    • RNAi [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      Seize your workplace and make do or face unemployment, :thonk: that's a big headscratcher

      • LoremIpsum [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        They claimed they will continue paying employees, who knows how long that will last, but get paid and dont work sounds like a better deal in the short run.

    • Animasta [any]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      I remember McDonald's ads in Russia boasting that most of the food is sourced locally, which would make sense. Now that McDonald's leaves what stops the franchise owners left from finding their old supplier's who just lost their biggest customer?

      • TraschcanOfIdeology [they/them, comrade/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Those kinds of large agreements and negotiations take time and effort to set up. With McD all but gone from Russian territory, new contracts would need to be drawn up and negotiated all over again. It's not impossible, but it would take some real organisin' and collective will to make it remotely work as it did before. Not that McD's business model or their food is something worth saving, but the level of know-how and resources needed to handle such a large supply chain without the legal/logistics team unfortunately is not something that you can just jumpstart without significant support, for example from the government. And I sure as hell don't think the Russian government thinks McD is a strategic priority rn.

  • Animasta [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    There was a precedent of sorts here in Russia. A whole bunch of Subway franchise owners called out the chain for making them buy soda and beer at too high of a price and tried to basically run the same business by themselves, rebranding as Glowsub. Later it turned out the subway had a non-compete clause in the franchise contract and those shops had to be closed.

    • RNAi [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      non-compete clause in the franchise contract and those shops had to be closed

      Which dipshit enforced whatever this shit means?

      What kind of dipshit would enforce something like this right now?

      • Animasta [any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        That was in like 2014. I'd wager right now it would work.

      • Animasta [any]
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        Yeah. Probably still do for a couple of days.

  • D61 [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    There lots of "paper" rules the franchisees are expected to follow. Which, right now, I doubt the Russian government would in any way help McD's USA based corporate offices to execute.

    While the workers and owners of the physical locations could still go to work, they'd need to figure out how to get replacements for their entire store's supplies. Straws, soda cups, lids, napkins, forks, spoons, knives, paper bags of various sizes, containers for the meal components, all of the ingredients and cooking supplies that aren't sourced from Russia or a Russia friendly nation.

    I do wonder how much backlash the non-McD's locations would face when the prices, menu selection, quality, and expected taste of the food all changed...

    • anaesidemus [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      McDonalds, or more accurately the franchise owner, pulled out of Iceland a few years back, citing high costs of maintaining the franchise. They rebranded as Metro . It is possible, especially if their most important supplies can be sourced.

        • anaesidemus [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          ohh yeah, that place is nice, the guys who founded it were TV personalities. They had a tv series about the founding and first year of business. One of them is ok, but the other one is a 40 year old boomer who keeps whining in the press about stuff, I hate him, he sold his stake so it's safe to visit now.

    • DragonNest_Aidit [they/them,use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      While the workers and owners of the physical locations could still go to work, they’d need to figure out how to get replacements for their entire store’s supplies. Straws, soda cups, lids, napkins, forks, spoons, knives, paper bags of various sizes, containers for the meal components, all of the ingredients and cooking supplies that aren’t sourced from Russia or a Russia friendly nation.

      Let's be real, all of those things are from China. Perhaps even the foodstuff too.

      • D61 [any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I'm not sure but it wouldn't surprise me if McD's corporate was smart enough to keep branded packaging, that is 100% required to be used by the franchisee "or else", production stateside just to keep that from happening.

        But the absolutely no reason why a Russian friendly China wouldn't ramp up something to quickly fill the gap.

  • DragonNest_Aidit [they/them,use name]
    ·
    edit-2
    3 years ago

    I think legitimately the only ingredient that can't be sourced locally would be the corn syrup for the pancakes, which I think worldwide are sourced straight from the USA.

    But I guess that means they'll just switch to using honey or caramel (and finally be freed from the antichrist :troll:)

  • garbage [none/use name,he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    lol china can just re-route whatever the fuck bullshit franchises they want to keep open anyway. change the name, deliver the exact same fucking goods.

  • SoyViking [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Russia has its own fast food chains, including one specialising in Russian food like pelmeni, blini and borscht, which sounds a lot more appetizing than the deep fried abominations you get from American chains.

      • CyborgMarx [any, any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        You know what, you're right, when our turn comes we raid the Whole Foods for vegan hot dogs :bloomer:

  • LoudMuffin [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    ok im genuinely confused as to why mcdonalds is pulling out

    what is this meant to accomplish

    • RNAi [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago
      • Can't change rubles for dollars right now
      • Might face sanctions from USA if not.
      • They don't own the places, they control the supply chain and those places. So not much capital lost anyways.
      • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        They often do own the building and land, the franchise owner leases it from McDonald's under the condition that they charge what McDonald's corporate tells them to and uses McDonald's supply chains.

        This is how they keep wages suppressed by the way. If a store gets too profitable for the franchisees, they cut prices and up distribution costs.

        • RNAi [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          3 years ago

          If a store gets too profitable for the franchisees, they cut prices and up distribution costs.

          For fuck sakes, of course, goddamit.

          • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Yep, I worked at a Papa John's for a while and we got super profitable for a while when some other joints closed shop. They raised food costs and lowered prices so we all had to work more and ended up making less