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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Starbucks will be the next McDonald's]]></title><link>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/05/25/bigger-than-mcdonalds-yes-bigger-than-mcdonalds/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/05/25/bigger-than-mcdonalds-yes-bigger-than-mcdonalds/</guid><comments>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/05/25/bigger-than-mcdonalds-yes-bigger-than-mcdonalds/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/forecasts/" rel="tag">Forecasts</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/products-and-services/" rel="tag">Products and Services</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/consumer-experience/" rel="tag">Consumer Experience</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/competitive-strategy/" rel="tag">Competitive Strategy</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/sbux/" rel="tag">Starbucks (SBUX)</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/mcd/" rel="tag">McDonald's (MCD)</a></p><p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bloggingstocks.com/media/2007/02/starbucks_with_knitting.jpg" alt="" /> Who has the audacity to say that ... even think it? Nobody is bigger than <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/mcdonald-s-corporation/mcd/nys">McDonald's Corp</a>. (NYSE: <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/mcdonald-s-corporation/mcd/nys">MCD</a>). After all, didn't McDonald's change the way we Americans eat? Didn't fast food and drive-thrus become the norm? Didn't McDonald's capture the hearts and, therefore, the appetite of every little kid with its Happy Meals and Ronald McDonald character? Didn't McDonald's even say that the world was ready for their menu and actually expand around the world? Even in France!</p>
<p>The answers to all the above questions is yes. McDonald's set the table (pardon the pun) to the way we view and eat fast food. Its success fostered major competitors like <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/bkc/nys">Burger King Holdings</a> (NYSE: <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/bkc/nys">BKC</a>), <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/wen/nys">Wendy's International</a> (NYSE: <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/wen/nys">WEN</a>) and <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/sonc/nas">Sonic Corp.</a> (NASDAQ: <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/sonc/nas">SONC</a>). <a href="http://money.aol.com/special/mcdonalds-most-famous-employees">It boasts a number of celebrities who have worked there in the past</a>.</p>
<p>But McDonald's is still McDonald's. It has tried to be hip and cool by actually offering salads, but do you really go to a McDonald's to eat a salad? The movie <em>Super Size Me</em> did not do anything for its image either; yet McDonald's still marches on.</p>
<p>McDonald's went public in 1965 and a $2,250 investment back then would be worth nearly $2 million today. What a great success story; 31,000 units spread out over 119 countries. It is truly one great American export. The brand name alone is among the world's top 10 most recognizable and worth untold billions of dollars.</p>
<p>So, who is going to be bigger than McDonald's? The answer is <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/starbucks-corporation/sbux/nas">Starbucks Corp</a>. (NASDAQ: <a href="http://finance.aol.com/quotes/starbucks-corporation/sbux/nas">SBUX</a>).</p><p><a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/05/25/bigger-than-mcdonalds-yes-bigger-than-mcdonalds/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Starbucks will be the next McDonald's</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/05/25/bigger-than-mcdonalds-yes-bigger-than-mcdonalds/">Starbucks will be the next McDonald's</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com">BloggingStocks</a> on Fri, 25 May 2007 20:12:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/05/25/bigger-than-mcdonalds-yes-bigger-than-mcdonalds/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/forward/903726/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/05/25/bigger-than-mcdonalds-yes-bigger-than-mcdonalds/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>BKC</category><category>breakfast sandwiches</category><category>Burger King</category><category>BurgerKing</category><category>drive thru</category><category>exports</category><category>fast food</category><category>Happy Meals</category><category>MCD</category><category>McDonald's</category><category>Paul McCartney</category><category>PaulMccartney</category><category>premium coffee</category><category>PremiumCoffee</category><category>Ronald McDonald</category><category>RonaldMcdonald</category><category>SBUX</category><category>SONC</category><category>Sonic</category><category>Starbucks</category><category>Starbucks Card</category><category>StarbucksCard</category><category>Super Size Me</category><category>SuperSizeMe</category><category>WEN</category><category>Wendy's</category><category>wireless internet</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Georges Yared]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 25 May 2007 20:12:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Starbucks gift cards use: hedge against brokeness?]]></title><link>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/12/05/starbucks-gift-cards-use-high-hedge-against-brokeness/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/12/05/starbucks-gift-cards-use-high-hedge-against-brokeness/</guid><comments>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/12/05/starbucks-gift-cards-use-high-hedge-against-brokeness/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/consumer-experience/" rel="tag">Consumer Experience</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/sbux/" rel="tag">Starbucks (SBUX)</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/marketing-and-advertising/" rel="tag">Marketing and Advertising</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/mcd/" rel="tag">McDonald's (MCD)</a>, <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/category/wen/" rel="tag">Wendy's Intl (WEN)</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" align="right" alt="starbucks in the window on 44th st, manhattan" id="vimage_1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bloggingstocks.com/media/2006/12/starbucks_window.jpg" />As I'm a Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) shareholder (a very very minor one), I get an annual "bonus" -- a special-edition Starbucks gift card with a little less than $4.00 in value, good for one grande almond latte (or thereabouts). The gift cards are pretty, and seem special, so when I have a little cash in my bank account and get the urge I'll refill it -- then, when I'm totally out of cash and dying for a sticky-sweet cup of milky caffeine, presto! Starbucks.<br /><br />My friend takes it to a whole new level. She and her husband are both self-employed, and they've set a strict budget that ensures they'll live within their monthly invoices. So she buys a Starbucks card every week or so, on Monday when her spending budget for the week begins anew. That way, if she spends all her cash by Thursday? She can still hang out with me and our boys at Starbucks on Friday afternoon.<br /><br />It's a hedge against brokeness.<br /><br />A <a href="http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061203/BUSINESS/612030328">report in the AP</a> indicates that 12% of all sales at Starbucks are through these refillable gift cards -- that's one in eight lattes. There are many theories about why the cards are so popular, but I'd just like to stake my claim on the concept that buying gift cards ensures that you'll still be able to buy coffee and 'Top Pot' chocolate doughnuts when you've spent all your money!<p><a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/12/05/starbucks-gift-cards-use-high-hedge-against-brokeness/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Starbucks gift cards use: hedge against brokeness?</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/12/05/starbucks-gift-cards-use-high-hedge-against-brokeness/">Starbucks gift cards use: hedge against brokeness?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com">BloggingStocks</a> on Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:55:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061203/BUSINESS/612030328>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/12/05/starbucks-gift-cards-use-high-hedge-against-brokeness/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/forward/713071/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/12/05/starbucks-gift-cards-use-high-hedge-against-brokeness/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>ap</category><category>broke</category><category>brokeness</category><category>card</category><category>coffee</category><category>gift card</category><category>gift cards</category><category>GiftCard</category><category>GiftCards</category><category>mcdonald's gift card</category><category>Mcdonald'sGiftCard</category><category>starbucks</category><category>starbucks card</category><category>starbucks gift card</category><category>StarbucksCard</category><category>StarbucksGiftCard</category><category>wendy's gift card</category><category>Wendy'sGiftCard</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Gilbert]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:55:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
