One of my first memories of surviving on junk food is of a good old Happy Meal at McDonald’s.
Every time I went out with family, I pestered my parents to dine at McDonald’s. My childhood was all about McPuffs, McAaloo Tikki Burgers and McChicken Burgers.
Even now I visit McD for a cheap or economical meal on broke days. Not to forget the absolute gem that their breakfast menu is! Turns out, people like me are in for a very sad news, especially in Delhi.
Sources say that McDonald’s shutting down outlets in Delhi. 43 out of 55 outlets to be shut from today and about 1700 employees are going to lose their jobs.
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The decision is a result of long infighting between CPRL (Connaught Plaza Restaurants), the 50-50 partnership venture between Vikram Bakshi and McDonald’s, who are running the chain in the north and east part of the country.
The reasons behind the move, decided on a Skype meeting yesterday, aren’t yet clear. Although, it is believed that the health license wasn’t renewed because of the estranged relationship between the partners.
The spat began in 2013 when Vikram Bakshi was removed from the position of MD of CPRL, angered by which he took the matter to Company Law Board (CLB) against McDonald’s. The verdict isn’t out yet but since then, McDonald’s have been pursuing Arbitration against Vikram in the London Court of Arbitration.
Now, not only is the move going to make the customers suffer, it is also very dangerous to the branding of the company.
McDonald’s established control in India when no other fast food chain was giving it competition. In recent times though, Domino’s had taken over the market. This move is further going to slide McDonald’s very low on the ladder.
Time and again, the American fast food chain has tried adding variety to the menu and coming up with innovative advertising to recapture the market. Midst this, the step could be a huge blow to the brand.
Even worse is that about 1700 people are going to lose their jobs. Now, isn’t that sad? The guy who poured extra chocolate over your McSwirl and the woman who didn’t charge for that extra ketchup are going to be jobless.
The only silver lining to the story is that the closedown is temporary and the partners might just resolve their differences for their own good and of course for the good of customers.
Well, fingers crossed!
Picture Credits: Google Images
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