McDonald’s adding table service and kiosks as it updates 430 restaurants in NC
McDonald’s restaurants across North Carolina are getting a big makeover, the fast-food chain announced Tuesday.
It plans to spend about $214 million modernizing 430 restaurants in the state — which is most of the company’s locations here — this year and next.
Nationwide, McDonald’s says, it will spend $6 billion to spruce up most of its restaurants by 2020.
The changes will be apparent inside and outside the restaurants. Upgrades include:
▪ Self-order kiosks will be added for customers who don’t want to wait in line. Customers will choose their meal from digital menu options. The company says employees will come out from behind the counter to have more direct contact with customers.
“In order to deliver a better experience, we anticipate that restaurants will train and hire new restaurant hospitality employees over the next few years,” McDonald’s said in a statement provided by the public affairs division of the Moore & Van Allen law firm .
▪ Customers can sit while they wait for their fast food with table service for the first time.
▪ Curbside pickup will include mobile ordering.
▪ The McCafe specialty coffees will be expanded.
Motorists in northwest Raleigh might have noticed the McDonald’s at Glenwood Avenue and Millbrook Road has been boarded up for weeks because of the remodeling that has begun there.
The company’s announcement included a comment from Lynn Minges, president and CEO of the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association, saying that the hospitality industry in the state amounts to $23 billion.
“Restaurants invest in and deliver innovation and unique customer experiences every day as vital cornerstones of their communities,” Minges said.
The major renovations come as McDonald’s has been rolling out its home “McDelivery” service through Uber. It is in place in more than 5,000 restaurants, including in the Triangle.
Craig Jarvis: 919-829-4576, @CraigJ_NandO
This story was originally published August 14, 2018 at 1:13 PM.