McDonald’s announced Wednesday that a quarter of the fast-food company’s restaurants have closed as countries around the globe take measures to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic.
Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s president and CEO, reported that 75% of the company’s worldwide locations remain operational to some degree amid the health crisis.
Nearly every McDonald’s in the U.S. has closed its dining rooms to customers and switched to exclusively serving food to-go or via delivery, Mr. Kempczinski noted.
Other nations have fully banned restaurants from operating, meanwhile, effectively shuttering every McDonald’s in countries including France, Italy, Spain and the U.K., its CEO said.
McDonald’s comparable sales for the month of March accordingly plummeted by 22.2% globally and 13.4% in the U.S., Mr. Kempczinski wrote in a business update issued ahead of the company’s upcoming first-quarter earnings announcement.
Comparable sales for the quarter ending March 31 decreased by 3.4%, with an even worse outcome prevented by strong global sales reported during January and February, he noted.
The World Health Organization became aware of the novel coronavirus in late 2019 upon learning about patients in China experiencing pneumonia of unknown cause. Cases of COVID-19, the potentially deadly respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, have been confirmed in most countries in the few months that followed, infecting more than 1.5 million people as of Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“This unprecedented situation is changing the world we live in, and we will need to adapt to a new reality in its aftermath,” Mr. Kempczinski wrote in the update.
“The situation remains fluid, and as the duration and scope of COVID-19 continues to evolve, it is not possible to estimate the full extent of the impact on our business at this time,” Mr. Kempczinski he added.
McDonald’s boasts more than 38,000 locations spanning 100 countries, according to the company. It plans to provide another update in an earning announcement planned for April 30.
Ninety-nine percent of the McDonald’s in the U.S. remain operational, but virtually all are exclusively catering to drive-thru, take-away and delivery customers, according to the company’s latest update. The remaining 1% are primarily closed because of their location, such as restaurants situated inside shopping malls, the update said.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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