McDonald's Franchisees Gain Steam With Remodels, Large Meeting

(Bloomberg) -- McDonald’s Corp. franchisees are making progress with their corporate parent.

The National Owners Association, incorporated this week in Illinois, said “there is still much work to do” in a letter posted Wednesday on its website. “It’s imperative that we get back to true collaboration, listening to each other, and adjusting as we go.”

The company Tuesday said it’s pushing back the timeline for its required remodels by several years, a move that Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mike Halen said was a response to the franchisees’ concerns. The franchisees had convened last month to discuss profitability and plan to meet again in Dallas next month. The letter said that more than 1,000 owners are expected to attend the December gathering.

A call to the franchisee group seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned. Independent operators own more than 90 percent of McDonald’s more than 37,000 stores globally. About 14,000 locations are in the U.S.

To contact the reporter on this story: Leslie Patton in Chicago at lpatton5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Kevin Miller

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