When did the first McDonald's open? History of McDonald's

A small octagonal building, the walls are almost entirely glass - like an aquarium. Inside - only the kitchen. Giant grill with three grillmen continuously roasting steaks. On a special rotating tray (designed by Dick McDonald), the steaks were sent with one movement of the hand to two refillers who put them in buns and add ketchup and mustard with a special culinary syringe with a dispenser. Two cocktailmen, meanwhile, knocked down milkshakes in the machines. And two jarmen in a huge deep fryer fried French fries with centners.

The first McDonald's fast food restaurant in Moscow was opened on January 31, 1990. On the first day of operation, the restaurant on Pushkinskaya Square served more than 30 thousand visitors, setting a world record for the first working day in the history of McDonald's.

The first restaurant of the company was opened in Moscow on Pushkinskaya Square (Bolshaya Bronnaya, 29) on January 31, 1990. The first McDonald's in Russia was half state-owned - 51% of the company belonged to the Moscow government. Even in the logo of the Russian McDonald's there was the symbolism of the USSR.

Before opening a restaurant, McDonald's built a completely independent organization with its own potato farms in the Moscow region, its own processing plants for the production of hamburger buns, meat, apple pies and other products for restaurants. A giant processing and distribution complex was built in the Solntsevo area. In total, the company invested about $50 million in its project in the USSR.

Then the construction of the restaurant itself began. The key figures in this process were Canadian managers who personally came to Moscow to control everything on the spot.

McDonald's appeared in Russia thanks to George Cohan, the chairman of the board of directors of the Canadian company. The first negotiations began in 1976 at the Montreal Olympics. The agreement on the establishment of a joint venture between the Canadian company "McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited" and the Main Department of Public Catering of the Moscow City Executive Committee - "Moscow-McDonald's" was signed on April 29, 1988 in Moscow.

Previously, a very popular cafe "Lira" was located on this place - before the introduction of dry law, the bar was famous for its cocktails and was a favorite meeting place for Moscow students.

A large-scale renovation of the building of the former Lira cafe began in May 1989. The windows were sealed with paper, and what the insides were, one could only guess. No images of the future interior before the opening were released to the press. The only thing that indicated the future restaurant was a huge red and yellow sign. Pictured is the installation of the sign.

In preparation for the opening of the poppy, the building underwent a major overhaul, adding an extension to the building and changing the light color scheme to bright corporate colors (in one of the articles from the 1990s, the restaurant is called a gingerbread house for its brightness).

The first fast-food establishment had 900 seats inside the building and 200 more in the summer outdoor area.

A few weeks before the opening, advertisements appeared in Moscow newspapers recruiting staff for the first McDonald's. More than 25,000 applications were submitted for 630 places. Guaranteed pay - 2 rubles per hour, shift work.

It was unusual for new hires to have to address their superiors by their first names, and courtesy to customers and cleanliness were the main rules. Monthly earnings depended on output and could reach 300 rubles, which, compared with scholarships and earnings of young specialists, was a very large amount.

The new establishment, familiar to the West, but in sharp contrast to the traditional Soviet public catering, became a real sensation for the Land of the Soviets.

There were so many people who wanted to try American food that on the opening day, a line lined up at the McDuck, which became the longest in the history of the brand: a line of people half a kilometer long completely skirted Novopushkinsky Square.

On the opening day, George Cohan, the head of the Canadian McDonald's, cut the red ribbon, said a few parting words. Then he began shaking hands with almost everyone who came in.

It is interesting that, as eyewitnesses say, the very first visitors were not those standing in line and not party workers, but the children of one of the Moscow orphanages. The day before the opening, they were brought by bus and invited to a cafe where they were treated to free hamburgers.

In 1990, a Big Mac cost 3.75 rubles, while the average Soviet salary was 150 rubles. For comparison: a monthly bus ticket cost 3 rubles.

The restaurant had a standard menu for the chain in those years. From drinks you could choose Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and milkshakes (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry). Visitors to McDonald's tried a completely new product for them - ice cream with toppings (strawberry, caramel and chocolate). And the famous apple pie became an absolute bestseller from the very beginning.

The company was founded in 1940 by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, who were the first in the world to formulate the principles of the concept of fast food. In 1955, entrepreneur Ray Kroc had the idea to develop a chain in order to increase the supply of his mixers to these establishments. He received consent to promote the company, and in 1961 he bought all the rights to it.

Most of the restaurants are operated by franchises, so the range, size and composition of portions may vary in different countries. For example, in many countries of the world, chain restaurants sell beer, but in Russia they have always been non-alcoholic.

The first Russian McDonald's (at that time the largest in the world) opened in Moscow on Pushkin Square in 1990. On that day, 30 thousand people visited it, which was a record for the network.

The interests of the network in Russia are provided by subsidiaries of the American structure - CJSC Moscow-McDonald's and LLC McDonald's. Due to the fact that the first restaurants in Moscow opened with a rental rate of 1 ruble per year, and contracts were concluded for a period up to 2041, rumors circulated that half of the chain belonged to the capital's mayor's office. The state enterprise Mosrestoranservice was indeed a co-founder and is listed as a co-owner of McDonald's in Russia. In 2010, the Moscow government tried to challenge the conditions and raise the rate to at least a thousand rubles, but the court sided with the network. The franchising scheme for opening restaurants in Russia began to be applied only in April 2012, after Subway overtook McDonald's in the number of eateries in Moscow.

Last year, the company's revenue grew by 19.6% - up to 55.4 billion rubles, while the year before - by 24.8%. The slowdown occurs from year to year.

subway

In 1965, 17-year-old Fred DeLuca told a family friend, Dr. Peter Buck, that he wanted to become a doctor and needed money for education. He advised to open a kiosk selling sandwiches and gave Fred a thousand dollars - start-up capital for the future institution. Soon the first Super Submarine Pete's kiosk appeared in Connecticut. The sandwich was shaped like a submarine, and was called a "submarine" and then shortened to a "sub".

Ten years later, the partners began to actively use the franchising scheme, transferring restaurants to management, and ten years later they solemnly celebrated the opening of the thousandth Subway restaurant. By August 2014, the network has 42,000 restaurants in one hundred and seven countries. In terms of the number of restaurants, it is ahead of McDonald's.

In Russia, the company began to actively develop in 2004, opening the first restaurant in St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospekt. Today it is the only chain of restaurants represented in the Far East. The master franchise is owned by the American company Subway Russia Franchising Company, its owners are US citizens, the activities of the network in Russia are monitored by a representative office located in Moscow.

KFC

Until 1991, the network was called « Fried chicken from Kentucky" , which reflected specialization in chicken. KFC is the second largest cafe chain in the world, second only to McDonald's. As of December 2013, it has more than 18 thousand points in one hundred and eighteen countries of the world. The company is owned by Yum! Brands, which also includes Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

KFC was founded by Harland Sanders, who began selling fried chicken during the Great Depression. He promoted the franchise to other states and regions. Thanks to the company, chicken has become an integral part of fast food and has gained the same popularity as the hamburger. Sanders himself, who called himself "The Colonel", became an important figure in American cultural life, and his image is still used in the interiors and advertising of KFC. In 2013, KFC generated $23 billion in sales.

In Russia, KFC cooperated with the Rosinter company (Il Patio, Planet Sushi, Friday’s chains), cafes opened for a long time under the Rostik’s brand. In 2005 Rostik Group and Yum! Brands signed a cooperation agreement, which included the formation of a new unified brand "Rostik's - KFC". In 2011, an American company bought all the rights to the Russian part of the chain and returned the name KFC. In 2013, there were 245 outlets in Russia. The management plans that by 2015 450 restaurants will operate in Russia and the CIS.

Burger King

James McLamore and David Edgerton opened the first Burger King in 1954 in Miami. After visiting McDonald's, McLamore got excited about the idea of ​​​​creating his own fast food. In 2002, the company was acquired by a pool of investors for $1.5 billion, which includes Goldman Sachs, TPG and Bain funds. Ten years later, the company's capitalization amounted to 4.6 billion dollars.

The first chain restaurant in Russia was opened in early 2010 in the Metropolis shopping center, and the second in the Evropeisky shopping mall. Today, there are 220 chain restaurants in Russia, 121 of them in Moscow and the Moscow region.

In Russia, Burger King operates through a franchising system, it is represented by Burger Rus LLC, a joint company of Burger King Europe, the owner of the Shokoladnitsa chain, Alexander Kolobov, and VTB Capital. By 2016, the network plans to increase the number of outlets in Russia to five hundred. In place of the points of the Coffee House coffee shop, which was absorbed by the competitive Chocolate Girl, burger shops may appear. If this happens, Burger King will overtake McDonald's in the number of restaurants.

"Teremok"

In the late nineties, businessman Mikhail Goncharov developed a plan to create stalls with national cuisine - Russian pancakes with fillings. The first Teremok opened in Moscow in 1999 near the Aeroport metro station. Over time, the company entered the top four largest fast food chains in Russia, and then Teremok restaurants opened. This year, information appeared that Goncharov plans to open outlets in America. In 2013, the turnover amounted to 2.65 billion rubles in Moscow and 2.3 billion rubles in St. Petersburg.

«Stardog!s»

In 1993, Russian businessman Sergei Shikharev bought meat and meat products from Denmark. There, he noticed many small stalls offering delicious hot dogs. There was nothing like this in Moscow, so he returned to Russia with the idea of ​​creating a similar network. Shikharev signed an agreement with the Steff Houlberg company, and soon the first Steff kiosk appeared in the city center. By the end of the nineties, there were a hundred tents, but during the crisis, business began to decline because the company could no longer work with Steff Houlberg. They decided to abandon the name "Steff", instead of it the "Stop Top" logo appeared.

In 2004, the company underwent a new rebranding, having received the name Stardog!s. Now it has 702 points of sale in sixteen regions. Most of them work around the clock. The hit of sales, like ten years ago, is the French hot dog.

"Tea spoon"

The idea for a Russian-style bistro came to St. Petersburg restaurateurs Boris Krupkin and Mikhail Avgustin, who had previously created the first gay club in the city - "69". In the crisis year, they decided to master the lower price segment, providing an average bill lower than that of McDonald's. 55 cafes opened in St. Petersburg, in 2009 the first restaurant opened in Klaipeda. 24% of the shares belong to the Neva-Rus fund, 19% - to private shareholders.

"Little Potato"

In 1998, Andrei Kononchuk and Vitaly Naumenko registered the Technology and Nutrition company. In August, the first point of the autocafe network was opened in Moscow. The main product is a whole potato baked in foil with a filling (cheese, butter and salads to choose from). For a long time, the chain worked in the format of street kiosks, and since 2003 it has appeared in the food courts of shopping centers.

According to information at the end of 2012, the Kroshka Kartoshka network includes more than 300 establishments, including 76 cafes in Moscow. The network is actively represented in Russian million-plus cities and is one of the five largest players in the market.

"Wokker"

Alexei Gisak worked as a copywriter for the BBDO Group and designed advertising campaigns for Pepsi and Mars until he wanted to become an entrepreneur himself. In 2008, from a trip to Amsterdam, he brought the idea of ​​​​pan-Asian food, which had never happened before in Moscow. Gisak and his friends registered the company: 70% from Alexei himself, 20% and 10% from Daniil Ostrovsky and Inna Petrova, his colleagues in the advertising market. Participation in food festivals helped the business: in one day of work at the Afisha Picnic festival, about a thousand portions of food were sold. Then word of mouth worked, I didn’t even have to spend money on advertising.

At first, Walker worked as a wok delivery service throughout the city, then points appeared at food courts in shopping centers. In 2012, the first Pan-Asian restaurant with affordable prices was opened. A year later, Vokker's revenue began to amount to 35 million rubles a month, while Gisak's other project, Supculture, was only 2.5 million. Now Walker, like its competitors, is developing its franchise network.