McDonald’s Adding Vegetarian Outlets in India

Posted on September 7, 2012 by bermanevansretail
McDonald’s operates and franchises outlets around the world. According to its Web site: “McDonald’s is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 33,500 local restaurants serving nearly 68 million people in 119 countries each day.” Eighty percent of its outlets are franchised. In India alone, Mcdonald’s operates more than 250 outlets.
In 2013, McDonald’s — in recognition of India’s huge vegetarian marketplace — will begin opening all-vegetarian outlets. As reported by Annie Gasparro and Julie Jargon for the Wall Street Journal: “Burger giant McDonald’s Corp. said it plans to open vegetarian-only restaurants in India next year — a worldwide first for the beef-centric fast-food chain. In India, McDonald’s restaurants have already dropped beef and pork from their menus, adhering to the religious practices of Hindus and Muslims, who make up most of India’s population. McDonald’s kitchens in India are also divided into separate sections for cooking vegetarian and nonvegetarian food. ‘In markets across the world, McDonald’s respects local cultures and has adopted our menu and dining experience to local preferences. The new restaurants in pilgrimage areas will be vegetarian-only because of the specific area and customer base,’ a McDonald’s spokeswoman said in a statement.”
Click the photo for more from the WSJ story.

 

Above is a McDonald’s in New Delphi India.
Photo by Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

 

Posted in Global Retailing, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 8: Putting It All Together | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wal-Mart Ramps Up in Africa

Posted on September 7, 2012 by bermanevansretail
As we noted yesterday, Wal-Mart is a very creative and innovative firm, not just a giant discounter that sells a lot of stuff.
Another indication of this is the retailer’s heightened interest in doing business in Africa. Devon Maylie, writing for the Wall Street Journal, says that: “Six months after the U.S. company won final regulatory approval of its $2.4 billion deal for control of African retail chain Massmart Holdings Ltd., South African suppliers are scurrying to learn the Wal-Mart way. They are ramping up production, rolling out advertising campaigns, and sweating over whether they can sell at discounted prices for extended periods. Some are even considering requests to begin night deliveries — long a taboo in a country notorious for carjackings. The courtship of the world’s largest retailer represents a potential turning point for companies that make everything from bread to umqombothi (a type of beer). By linking up with Wal-Mart, some South African suppliers could join a global supply chain for the first time.”
Maylie adds that: “A few players dominate South Africa’s retail industries, a legacy of apartheid, when many companies of all sorts pulled out or stayed away under the threat of sanctions. Three domestic chains control about 90% of the supermarket sector. And South African food suppliers were left to build their own brands while jostling for a share of a relatively small market. By coming into South Africa, Wal-Mart has set its sights on a bigger market — the entire continent. And South African suppliers see that expansion as their ticket into a wider, even global, market.”
Click the image below for a WSJ video on Maylies’ report.

 

Photo by Per-Anders Pettersson for the Wall Street Journal

 

Posted in Global Retailing, Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 4: Store Location Planning, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 8: Putting It All Together, Video Clips (non-career) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Good News for Consumers? Judge Approves E-book Pricing Settlement

Posted on September 6, 2012 by bermanevansretail
It was announced today that a federal judge approved a settlement of an E-book pricing agreement (see our earlier blog post). This should bring back some retail discounting, which would benefit consumers of E-books.
As Julie Bosman reported for the New York Times: “A federal judge on Thursday approved a settlement with three major publishers in a civil antitrust case brought by the Department of Justice over collusion in E-book pricing, paving the way for a war over the cost of digital books in the coming months. Denise L. Cote, the federal judge in Manhattan who is overseeing the case, rejected arguments against the settlement, saying they were ‘insufficient’ to deny its approval.”
Bosman also wrote that: “The settlement approved on Thursday called for the publishers to end their contracts with Apple within one week. The publishers must also terminate contracts with E-book retailers that contain restrictions on the retailer’s ability to set the price of an E-book or contain a so-called ‘most favored nation’ clause, which says that no other retailer is allowed to sell e-books for a lower price. For the next two years, the settling publishers may not agree to contracts with E-book retailers that restrict the retailer’s ‘discretion over e-book pricing,’ the court said. For five years, the publishers are not allowed to make contracts with retailers that includes a most favored nation clause.”
The remaining question: Will the losing parties further appeal this ruling? Stay tuned!!

To read more from Bosman, click the New York Times‘ icon.

 

 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment