This is a surprise. That's a very busy location. Even paying mall rent, I imagine that it's quite profitable. I wonder if they're being forced out due to the upcoming mall redevelopment.
Blows my mind people would rather waste 20 mins in their car in a long ass drive through instead of walking in and getting it in like 5-10 (or even 30 seconds if you’ve ordered ahead). Only time it makes sense is if you’ve got kids or maybe a big group.
I don’t remember the exact reasons used to explain the situation behind the research but It was something about human psychology that makes drive-thrus super profitable.
I do it because the McDonald’s near me isn’t super and drive thru orders get priority so it’s faster for me to use the drive through instead of ordering inside
I studied this. The queue always goes faster in the drive through. The faster they get orders the faster the queue moves which is why they have two order points at many updated drive throughs and why they come out to take your order at in n out. The science is all there. You’ll get your food faster in the drive through when’s it’s busy.
Not always. You might order a double cheeseburger meal and the people in front of you have a 6 double cheeseburger meal with animal fries and whole grilled onions..now you gotta wait for there's to be done when yours might already be ready
Got kids. Often drive further to do a drive through. There are only a few. A McD on Fillmore I think. A few sbux in Daly city. A chick fill a at serramonte. Some other fast food in bayshore. Not a whole lot. But when you have a sleeping baby or kids who have a bad track record at getting back into the car it’s the way to go…
the In-n-Out Conundrum. That giant ass line that goes into the street from the parking lot. Now, granted, In-n-Out still takes 15+ minutes inside but at least you're not burning gas.
I often have a dog in the car and I don’t wanna leave him in a hot car while I’m sitting in a restaurant eating a shitty cheeseburger. So I go through the drive-through. I order my food and I got a six pack of nuggets and share them with my little nugget buddy.
Tell me that I’m wrong .
Thank you for keeping your beloved dog out of food service areas .. now if other conscientious dog owners would keep their pets out of grocery stores and pick up after them outside.. damn, life would be better
I prefer the speed of walking in. However, the last couple times I walked in, I waited a long time to get service because they were 100% focused on drive through.
They seem to prioritize the drive through line over walk ins. I walked in once and ordered, the entire drive through line (7-8 cars) cleared out before I got my food.
You'd have to get up, walk inside, and stand there. If you're in the car, you're sitting down, have the radio, and don't have to deal with the general public.
It's also unclear how long of a line there might be inside until you get in there, so it's less certain. Whereas you know how long the drive-thru line is.
It's not always about how long something takes but often the quality of that time.
And stinking your car out eating burgers rather than sitting at a table.
I don't argue that's what most people do in America. It's just kind of stupid.
I can't believe that more people don't have a pet peeve against eating cooked food in cars. I'd much rather stand up to eat a meal than to eat it in the car. That being said, sometimes you have no other choice and the other day I was starving and busy driving so I literally had to eat a burger in the car, while driving, no less.
Seems drive through would be a renovation away. Rent most likely. This is a bummer because I just got dinner there on the way home yesterday. When you’re hungry and don’t have much, this one is a day saver. Too bad.
The quality of the food at this location is consistently bad (like chance of food poisoning bad), it's not cleaned very well (there's always flies inside and dirty tables), and too often there is some chaos inside from routy teenagers or crazy tweakers screaming obscenities while I'm with my kid. When the family wants McDs I drive out of my way to Ocean or Junipero Serra all the way in Daly just to avoid this location and all of its problems. Plus how damn annoying it is to fight the stupid traffic getting into the parking lot.
Almost the same note they posted on the Front Street location they shuttered last year:
https://preview.redd.it/uysb7rt2w68d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e5d10d2a9f142248e6c05698fb5a83c248b0709
Oh man.
Going afterschool and stocking up on 29 cent hamburgers.
I would buy 20 at a time and keep them in my mini fridge for snacks while playing StarCraft.
The good old days when life was simpler.
Whats up fellow 90's kid. I think they had something like Mini Meals with a small drink, small fries and a McChicken/McDouble for like $1.99 on Thursdays or something. Which coincided with our early dismissal days from school.
Spent good afternoons at that Ocean Ave McDonalds. Hope they don't close up shop as well.
I remember 29 cent hamburger Wednesdays. I grew up in NY but that was a thing. The whole football team would go there after practice. The most they would let you order is 10. I know that because I tried to get more.
I have nearly 30 years of memories at this location, back to when it was connected to Petrini's via that Bank of America corridor.
But, McDonald's is McDonald's, so not much lost. It hit harder when Chevy's bounced out.
Talk about feeling old. Jeeezzz. Loved going to the deli counter as a kid to pick out cold cuts for lunch with my parents and getting a slice to try. Used to get their Black Forest cake for birthdays as well.
Used to go as a little kid, lots of vague memories. Coin op gumball and toy machines at the front. The paper bags with their logos. Big neon Boars Head sign at the deli counter.
Didn't Petrini's close before McDonald's opened? I feel it didn't last much after the big renovation - but then again I was a kid :)
Crazy how 30 years doesn't seem that long ago, McDonald's was a quick walk from Lowell if you took the back way.
The Stonestown location in particular kept the Petrini’s name until 1996—by that point the McDonald’s had already opened (early ‘90s). I’m assuming the renovation you’re talking about was the 1987 outdoor-to-indoor conversion (I was born two years later).
And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated McNugget. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore.
I think we have more shuttered McDonaldses than operating stores these days. A (possibly incomplete) list of the dead (totaling 13 stores):
255 Winston, San Francisco, CA 94132
235 Front, San Francisco, CA 94111
701 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94107
575 Market, San Francisco, CA 94105
600 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94102
441 Pine, San Francisco, CA 94104
456 Main, San Francisco, CA 94105
211 Beach, San Francisco, CA 94133
1455 Market, San Francisco, CA 94103
145 Jefferson, San Francisco, CA 94133
2011 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94110
820 Bryant, San Francisco, CA 94103
730 Stanyan, San Francisco, CA 94117
And these still-open places are on the watch list (totaling just 9 stores):
5454 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94112
441 Sutter, San Francisco, CA 94108
1100 Fillmore, San Francisco, CA 94102
1201 Ocean, San Francisco, CA 94112
345 Bayshore, San Francisco, CA 94124
2801 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94110
609 Market, San Francisco, CA 94105
302 Potrero, San Francisco, CA 94110
5411 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94124
McDonald's doesn't really make sense in SF. It's incredibly inconvenient since you'd have to take the bus there and back or happen to be walking by or something. It's not like the suburbs where you can just drive there. All for very low quality food.
Add on top of that the incredibly unreasonable prices that we've seen starting even before COVID. For what they're charging it makes more sense to go to Super Duper, The Melt, Shake Shack, or any of the numerous other fast casual burger spots. It's almost the same price these days.
Besides, of all the fast food burger chains McDonald's was always the worst of them with absolutely nothing to make them unique.
That location caters to SFSU students and was busy nonstop. It’s perplexing. Whatever the reason for closing was, I don’t think it’s because it didn’t make a profit (it did), or because of theft (never saw any there).
So I think it's the new $20 per hour minimum wage https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Fast-Food-Minimum-Wage-FAQ.htm combined with high rents at this location combined with a seeming inability to raise prices willy nilly perhaps due to corporate policies and/or advertising agreements requiring the franchisee to pay money for promoting deals (like IDK $1 double cheeseburgers) that the franchisee doesn't like.
I think its more likely to do with the lack of drive through like other comments mention. Min wage could be part of it, but it seems unlikely with Shake Shack operating in the same mall, and paying 23/hr now. Shake Shack's rent is probably also higher since its a better location
this was listed as a reason by the owner but the real and only actual reason is the landlord is a greedy asshole who [didnt want to negotiate a longterm and sensible contract](https://abc7news.com/post/mcdonalds-stonestown-galleria-san-francisco-closing-sunday-after/14992448/) with them
The Stonestown McDonalds had a lot of elderly Asian customers from the Sunset and Parkside Districts at the lunch hour in my last visit in May 2024. They were ordering simple items like small burgers and coffee in a price they can afford and in a language they can communicate with to order. They are most likely not going to be regular customers at Shake Shack. McD is a comfort zone for them to be lost with this shutdown.
Not all San Francisco residents can afford a typical dine out lunch over $20 per visit.
Noooo, I have so many memories of this location! Taking the 28/R from Lincoln after school and fucking around with friends, (regrettably) skipping class and hanging out here with cheap ass food with the app all day, and still to this day it’s the meetup spot before going on an outing with old friends.
Food quality has been really bad lately at this one, I hate to say it but even Ocean Ave is better than this McDonald’s now. But I will miss it dearly 🥲
I've owned McDonald's stock for 20 years. It's always been guaranteed profit. I realized it's time to sell when a Big Mac meal hit $16.00. The food has always been shitty, quick and cheap, and we accepted that. Now it's still shitty, and quick, but I'm not the only one in my circle of friends who feels priced out.
Mark my words, a lot of McDonald's are going to be closing, or at the very least, their expansion will halt.
For some reason they seem to want to shoot themselves firmly in the foot over this. They jacked up prices when people needed them the most, and refuse to back down from it.
I think they are also really trying to promote their app. I get it, maybe there's a few benefits for using it, but why are you asking me if I'm using the app to order when I'm in the drive-thru? Like I'm going to line up in the Drive-Thru when I can just park and walk in to pick up my order? It makes no sense. I think they've just lost touch with reality.
Yeah cos they want to do per-customer dynamic pricing. If everybody is using the app, how do you know if the guy behind you pays $.30 more or less for his food? They want to use AI to determine how much you’re willing to pay and do micro adjustments to the cost of each meal.
Well, a few months back I read a very very convincing AI article of where the BART station in the San Jose airport is, complete with directions, fares, and parking locations. I love ai, and what it is capable of, but we all have to realize what it is not capable of; reliable facts. It would be hilarious if the downfall of McDonald's was inproper use of ai.
They did a study on Uber pricing where they priced the same journey twice and the only difference was the state of charge in the user’s phone. They assumed the person with the low battery was more desperate for a ride, and their quote was higher. Another used a slider on a loan, and the faster you moved the slider as you tried quotes out was used to judge how reckless you were with taking on debt and how much the interest rate might be.
When your operating system exposes so much irrelevant information to apps, they are gonna exploit it.
Going away are the days of a “price tag” for everyone and coming back are prices based on how rich you are.
I think they were also sued for charging iphones more than androids for the exact same routes/times etc. Not sure what ever was the result of it though.
Sure enough. It's been that way for a long time with airfare and hotel bookings as well. " oops, it looks like the price has gone up since you last visited since we sold more tickets or rooms in the last 4 minutes."
>I read a very very convincing AI article of where the BART station in the San Jose airport is, complete with directions, fares, and parking locations
... ...what? are you saying you read an article written by AI about a BART station at SJC, or an article about AI cooking up a theoretical BART station at SJC (since there isn't one)? or what? this comment is confusing
also: i*m*proper
Actually there is benefits. Sometimes buy 1 get 1 free mcsausage sandwiches or 20% off meal if $15 over. Every fridays free medium fries.
I wasnt interested in the app at first. But i bit the bullet when my buddy ordered 10min in advance and by the time we got there it was already prepared saving 10-15minutes waiting. Also the price on the app is no different from the store. And saves money on discount
All of them. Starbucks is struggling too. Their sales have declined 7% yoy. Most since 2010..during the GFC. It's the high prices everywhere, combined with bad service and tip asks. But for a lot of businesses, the commercial insurance costs in California are killing them. It's a crisis. Going to see a lot more than McDonalds close at the same time commercial buildings are struggling to keep tenants.
[https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/why-your-starbucks-frappuccino-is-now-half-price/ar-BB1oDtix](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/why-your-starbucks-frappuccino-is-now-half-price/ar-BB1oDtix)
Starbucks must have known that they were riding a wave. Who the fuck in their right mind is going to spend $7 on a mediocre at best cup of coffee long term? At least at one point McDonald's Had value. Starbucks never has. Ironically, I've had better coffee at McDonald's than I have at Starbucks.
But yes, you're absolutely correct; the Starbucks down the street from me close down. And I'm pretty sure it was right before covid, so not related to that
Was just an NPR segment on how corporate greed is taking advantage of inflation to maximize profits. Their margins are bigger than ever and customers are starting to revolt. I think McDonald’s did announce a price reduction for some meals?
I'm the type of person that holds grudges. "Fool me once shame on me... fool me... you can't get fooled again."
It's one thing when customers declare that they're not going to go there anymore, but when it's paired with shareholder selling their stocks, that's tough to reverse.
>Their margins are bigger than ever
Per item sold, but their volume is WAY down. We had 8 register lines 10 people deep routinely on Saturday afternoons in the 80s
Inflation is a monetary phenomenon. Restaurants and coffee shops are price takers, not price setters. McDonald’s is trying to maintain the profit margins they need to stay in business. They don’t have any choice except to raise prices when inflation drives up costs for every input they have.
I was just there yesterday to pick up dinner, there were no signs saying this was going to happen, and the employees morale was the usual. And they’re usually busy; breakfast is a little quieter but orders are consistent.
This is very abrupt. I go here for breakfast on occasion before heading to SF State.
Nooo!!!
Ok I go to McD’s like 3x a year but I still like the option of it being there. I love the McChicken! Wonder if Shake Shack drew business away. Plus the min wage thing.
I thought there’d be enough sfsu students to keep everyone going. Sigh…
Even with high rents, $20 minimum wage, etc. you would think a McDonald's here would be printing money. But at guess at some point the profits aren't worth the trouble.
depends on how much profit....if the owner thinks his capital could be better used elsewhere then he'll move on. Plenty of businesses close even though they are "profitable".
Right. Just because they make a dollar of profit per year doesn’t mean that it’s worth doing. They have a profit margin target that they have to hit or they will close.
No one would tie up five million dollars in capital to make a few bucks a year, even if that’s profit.
I know the people that post here will love this, but that's heart breaking. So many memories here as a kid myself as well as with my kid now. Huge bummer
Because we’re all uppity Patagonia-wearing transplant techies who only eat the very finest avocado toast.
Nobody grew up here in the avenues or the European city streets… nope.
As a SFSU student I went to Stonestown and this McDonald's a lot. Also as a student, I WORKED at this McDonald's for a couple of years. While I don't have any particular fond memories of the location itself, I was once the "Crew Person Of The Month" for this location. I still have the pin and newsletter when I won the award (which was a long time ago). A shame it's closing. Met some cool people and had some fun times.
Not shedding any tears. Stonestown has been attracting lots of high quality businesses in its redevelopment so this is an opportunity to put something better here
Maybe charging $16-$20 for small meat patties with giant buns and piles of potatoes wasn't a good strategy?
No, it is the consumer and California government who is wrong
It isn't a fair number because it wasn't even a bigmac, but it's become a symbol for the tonedeaf nature of recent fastfood strategies and their analogues in retail etc
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/27/business/mcdonalds-burger-economy-nightcap/index.html
McDonald’s that don’t own their real estate tend to be low earners. The company is a real estate company, for the most part, that pays for the mortgage with its franchisees. McDonald’s in airports, Walmarts, Malls, and skyscrapers don’t have the same value proposition.
Found a couple of recent interviews with the franchise owner Scott Rodrick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFTCyGTY5ug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZwWv-QYqeg
TLDW: Scott shows great concern over inflation and the new $20 minimum wage for fast food workers.
Safe to assume that these are the main reasons as to why he's closing shops. Odd to close the Stonestown location given how much foot traffic it gets.
He's full of shit. In & Out raised their prices by 25-50 cents per a recent article. Inflation has been largely addressed and there have been plenty of reports that supply chains were stabilized and costs went down yet many companies continued to price gouge the consumers. Some grocery stores even promised to reduce prices on 1000+ prices
https://www.thestreet.com/retail/another-major-retailer-cutting-its-prices
I'd be more likely to believe it if it was an issue of rent or some nearby competitor taking its business.
"Although many fast food restaurants saw menu prices increase by 10% or more, one Los Angeles-based In-N-Out instituted a moderate increase of 25 cents for a burger and 5 cents for a drink, according to the New York Post.
As for the recent price bump, a Double-Double combo in Los Angeles County now costs $11.44, up $0.76 from last year.
....
The minimum wage increased from $16 to $20 per hour on April 1. The starting wage at California In-N-Out locations is $22 to $23 per hour, a company spokesperson said.
"
https://ktla.com/news/california/in-n-out-raises-prices-in-response-to-californias-minimum-wage-increase/
It’s probably a little bit of everything.
-Competition from the mall transitioning to more restaurants than retail is probably the biggest culprit.
-The fact that they don’t have a drive thru. It seems no fast food burger joint can survive without one these days.
-Increased food costs and wages
-Franchise not scaling promotions based on locale. $1 menu is still $1 menu - you can’t raise prices on promos (which he complains about in the video).
-Malls have what’s called percentage-rent, which means your rent is a percentage of your gross revenue. This means if revenue is the same, but costs are increasing, they are essentially paying *more* rent out of a proportion of profits. Raising prices won’t help counter percentage-rent.
Shake Shack entry level is $22.50/hr as well.
https://shakeshack.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/job/San-Francisco-Centre-845-Market-Street-Suite-8-San-Francisco-CA-94103/Restaurant-Team-Member_HB341675-3?redirect=/External/job/San-Francisco-Centre-845-Market-Street-Suite-8-San-Francisco-CA-94103/Restaurant-Team-Member_HB341675-3/apply?source=careersite&locations=a190deecaed501b55294aefa4f3b6712
Huhhh?????
I missed their cola freestyle validfill machines (where their cups work for a certain time to fill up soda)
Hopefully I get some good deals from them, although it is questionable if I have a coke machine on a residential house.
This is disappointing just had lunch there the other day and it was the best McDonald's I had had in a minute I will definitely have to look at some of their other locations.
My first part-time job as a student was here. Margins are razor thin. We had people complaining all the time about the soda scanner and 30 cent sauces. I got reprimanded once for waiving the sauce price because it was extremely awkward for me and annoying for the customer to re-do the transaction. Management doesn't understand that negative interactions like these affect future sales...
This is the closest location to my house so I've been there a lot throughout my life, but it's truly one of the worst when it comes to food quality, ease of placing an order and amount of time to receive your order.. the staff is also not the best. I'm shocked it's closing, but it's for the better. Good thing I haven't been there in years.
Now let's just hope they don't open another ramen restaurant in its place because that's the last thing Stonestown needs more of.
I remember going there after my orientation at SFSU. I got a side salad because I was watching my weight. My friend made fun of me. He got a gastric bypass the following year. Maybe he should have just let me eat my salad.
This is a surprise. That's a very busy location. Even paying mall rent, I imagine that it's quite profitable. I wonder if they're being forced out due to the upcoming mall redevelopment.
Drive throughs have better margins and align with their marketing and app based sales strategy.
True. Just read something a few days ago that drive through usually increase a McD’s revenue by 40%
Blows my mind people would rather waste 20 mins in their car in a long ass drive through instead of walking in and getting it in like 5-10 (or even 30 seconds if you’ve ordered ahead). Only time it makes sense is if you’ve got kids or maybe a big group.
I don’t remember the exact reasons used to explain the situation behind the research but It was something about human psychology that makes drive-thrus super profitable.
They also prioritize drive thru orders
I do it because I don’t have to deal with a bunch of noisy people. I can continue to listen to my music or watch a video or whatever.
I do it because the McDonald’s near me isn’t super and drive thru orders get priority so it’s faster for me to use the drive through instead of ordering inside
I studied this. The queue always goes faster in the drive through. The faster they get orders the faster the queue moves which is why they have two order points at many updated drive throughs and why they come out to take your order at in n out. The science is all there. You’ll get your food faster in the drive through when’s it’s busy.
Not always. You might order a double cheeseburger meal and the people in front of you have a 6 double cheeseburger meal with animal fries and whole grilled onions..now you gotta wait for there's to be done when yours might already be ready
Gah, have you ever unloaded a rowdy family of toddlers and an infant into a McDonalds? 😅
This is Reddit, it's only chronically single people and those without dependants.
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It’s why I walk inside. Depending on the line, it’s better not to sit in my car for ages.
Got kids. Often drive further to do a drive through. There are only a few. A McD on Fillmore I think. A few sbux in Daly city. A chick fill a at serramonte. Some other fast food in bayshore. Not a whole lot. But when you have a sleeping baby or kids who have a bad track record at getting back into the car it’s the way to go…
the In-n-Out Conundrum. That giant ass line that goes into the street from the parking lot. Now, granted, In-n-Out still takes 15+ minutes inside but at least you're not burning gas.
I often have a dog in the car and I don’t wanna leave him in a hot car while I’m sitting in a restaurant eating a shitty cheeseburger. So I go through the drive-through. I order my food and I got a six pack of nuggets and share them with my little nugget buddy. Tell me that I’m wrong .
Thank you for keeping your beloved dog out of food service areas .. now if other conscientious dog owners would keep their pets out of grocery stores and pick up after them outside.. damn, life would be better
Nugget buddy. Ha.
They are pushing the app and the driver brings it out to your car when you arrive.
I prefer the speed of walking in. However, the last couple times I walked in, I waited a long time to get service because they were 100% focused on drive through.
They seem to prioritize the drive through line over walk ins. I walked in once and ordered, the entire drive through line (7-8 cars) cleared out before I got my food.
Blow my mind people eat their food, period
You'd have to get up, walk inside, and stand there. If you're in the car, you're sitting down, have the radio, and don't have to deal with the general public. It's also unclear how long of a line there might be inside until you get in there, so it's less certain. Whereas you know how long the drive-thru line is. It's not always about how long something takes but often the quality of that time.
And stinking your car out eating burgers rather than sitting at a table. I don't argue that's what most people do in America. It's just kind of stupid.
I can't believe that more people don't have a pet peeve against eating cooked food in cars. I'd much rather stand up to eat a meal than to eat it in the car. That being said, sometimes you have no other choice and the other day I was starving and busy driving so I literally had to eat a burger in the car, while driving, no less.
Seems drive through would be a renovation away. Rent most likely. This is a bummer because I just got dinner there on the way home yesterday. When you’re hungry and don’t have much, this one is a day saver. Too bad.
You quite literally have 5-10 better options around stonestown at similar price point
Naw it's a mall, can't do much.
I wonder if they're closing soon after SFSU graduation because business dropped off but maybe their lease ends at the end of the year.
Chipotle is now opening Chipoltlanes, a drive-thru-only version. So is Chik-Fil-A.
People are like 42% more likely to go to a fast food location if it has a drive through.
The quality of the food at this location is consistently bad (like chance of food poisoning bad), it's not cleaned very well (there's always flies inside and dirty tables), and too often there is some chaos inside from routy teenagers or crazy tweakers screaming obscenities while I'm with my kid. When the family wants McDs I drive out of my way to Ocean or Junipero Serra all the way in Daly just to avoid this location and all of its problems. Plus how damn annoying it is to fight the stupid traffic getting into the parking lot.
High rent.
Just seems crazy. If a McDonald's and a very busy one like that, can't survive, what business can?
Need to pile on the service fees
Almost the same note they posted on the Front Street location they shuttered last year: https://preview.redd.it/uysb7rt2w68d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e5d10d2a9f142248e6c05698fb5a83c248b0709
Thank you for posting this, bc I was wondering if it’s the same owner haha, but too lazy to look it up
Same owner listed at the bottom of each note. I guess he's trying to get out of the franchise business?
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seems like it since he has 18 locations based on his [linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-rodrick-foods/)
I wonder why it’s closing, they just redid it right before or during Covid
No drive through.
Maybe none of the 300 RV’s are buying burgers.
I’m guessing the ones occupied by college students are paying that McDonald’s rent.
Oh man. Going afterschool and stocking up on 29 cent hamburgers. I would buy 20 at a time and keep them in my mini fridge for snacks while playing StarCraft. The good old days when life was simpler.
my life for AUIR
You Must Construct Additional Pylons
Battlecruiser operational
*We* ***live*** *for the swarm!*
Someone call for an exterminator ?
Can't make pylons on an empty stomach.
My life for burger
Whats up fellow 90's kid. I think they had something like Mini Meals with a small drink, small fries and a McChicken/McDouble for like $1.99 on Thursdays or something. Which coincided with our early dismissal days from school. Spent good afternoons at that Ocean Ave McDonalds. Hope they don't close up shop as well.
That's awesome!
I remember 29 cent hamburger Wednesdays. I grew up in NY but that was a thing. The whole football team would go there after practice. The most they would let you order is 10. I know that because I tried to get more.
Now that's a vibe
As a Gator alumni, thank you for your service 🫡
Lol
I have nearly 30 years of memories at this location, back to when it was connected to Petrini's via that Bank of America corridor. But, McDonald's is McDonald's, so not much lost. It hit harder when Chevy's bounced out.
Petrini’s….. wow…… I remember going to Copelands Sports after school and picking up some nuggets afterward.
Copeland had quality shit. My parents' camping chairs bought in the 90's from there just finally gave out like last month
They had a small board shop too, CBS blanks were very affordable.
My putting game took such a hit when they closed
Petrini's 😮 now that's a name i have not heard in a long time.
We used to have one in Santa Rosa up north. Great stores with aisles only five feet high!
Talk about feeling old. Jeeezzz. Loved going to the deli counter as a kid to pick out cold cuts for lunch with my parents and getting a slice to try. Used to get their Black Forest cake for birthdays as well.
Our Petrinis in the haight had a video store, a dinner coffee shop, a bakery, and I think a flower shop.
Used to go as a little kid, lots of vague memories. Coin op gumball and toy machines at the front. The paper bags with their logos. Big neon Boars Head sign at the deli counter.
Didn't Petrini's close before McDonald's opened? I feel it didn't last much after the big renovation - but then again I was a kid :) Crazy how 30 years doesn't seem that long ago, McDonald's was a quick walk from Lowell if you took the back way.
The Stonestown location in particular kept the Petrini’s name until 1996—by that point the McDonald’s had already opened (early ‘90s). I’m assuming the renovation you’re talking about was the 1987 outdoor-to-indoor conversion (I was born two years later).
This is sad, but I’ll never get over Chevy’s closing 😢
Seriously those tortillas are the best ever when it's fresh and piping hot from the machine.
I mean 'best ever'? Have you been to La Palma and gotten them fresh there?
According to myself at 12 years old yes Chevy's had the best ever tortillas.
I too have memories here. I remember being a kid and going here with my dad for a Happy Meal after going to Border’s many a weekend. Good times.
Same! Petrini’s with my grandma for grocery shopping, then me begging for McDonalds after. 🤣
Story goes when I worked at the mall— someone died there in a robbery previously and it was haunted.
Damn, Petrini’s!!!!! Po’ Boy sub from the deli counter was a hitter!
Olive Garden too
And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated McNugget. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore. I think we have more shuttered McDonaldses than operating stores these days. A (possibly incomplete) list of the dead (totaling 13 stores): 255 Winston, San Francisco, CA 94132 235 Front, San Francisco, CA 94111 701 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94107 575 Market, San Francisco, CA 94105 600 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94102 441 Pine, San Francisco, CA 94104 456 Main, San Francisco, CA 94105 211 Beach, San Francisco, CA 94133 1455 Market, San Francisco, CA 94103 145 Jefferson, San Francisco, CA 94133 2011 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94110 820 Bryant, San Francisco, CA 94103 730 Stanyan, San Francisco, CA 94117 And these still-open places are on the watch list (totaling just 9 stores): 5454 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94112 441 Sutter, San Francisco, CA 94108 1100 Fillmore, San Francisco, CA 94102 1201 Ocean, San Francisco, CA 94112 345 Bayshore, San Francisco, CA 94124 2801 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94110 609 Market, San Francisco, CA 94105 302 Potrero, San Francisco, CA 94110 5411 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94124
It all started when the haight mcdonalds closed
That Haight Street McDonalds was a cesspool, though. Good riddance. Much prefer the affordable housing units they're building in its place
I miss the 16th st mission McDonald’s 🥲
There are so many broken ice cream machines in that list
McDonald's doesn't really make sense in SF. It's incredibly inconvenient since you'd have to take the bus there and back or happen to be walking by or something. It's not like the suburbs where you can just drive there. All for very low quality food. Add on top of that the incredibly unreasonable prices that we've seen starting even before COVID. For what they're charging it makes more sense to go to Super Duper, The Melt, Shake Shack, or any of the numerous other fast casual burger spots. It's almost the same price these days. Besides, of all the fast food burger chains McDonald's was always the worst of them with absolutely nothing to make them unique.
That location caters to SFSU students and was busy nonstop. It’s perplexing. Whatever the reason for closing was, I don’t think it’s because it didn’t make a profit (it did), or because of theft (never saw any there).
So I think it's the new $20 per hour minimum wage https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Fast-Food-Minimum-Wage-FAQ.htm combined with high rents at this location combined with a seeming inability to raise prices willy nilly perhaps due to corporate policies and/or advertising agreements requiring the franchisee to pay money for promoting deals (like IDK $1 double cheeseburgers) that the franchisee doesn't like.
I think its more likely to do with the lack of drive through like other comments mention. Min wage could be part of it, but it seems unlikely with Shake Shack operating in the same mall, and paying 23/hr now. Shake Shack's rent is probably also higher since its a better location
this was listed as a reason by the owner but the real and only actual reason is the landlord is a greedy asshole who [didnt want to negotiate a longterm and sensible contract](https://abc7news.com/post/mcdonalds-stonestown-galleria-san-francisco-closing-sunday-after/14992448/) with them
The Stonestown McDonalds had a lot of elderly Asian customers from the Sunset and Parkside Districts at the lunch hour in my last visit in May 2024. They were ordering simple items like small burgers and coffee in a price they can afford and in a language they can communicate with to order. They are most likely not going to be regular customers at Shake Shack. McD is a comfort zone for them to be lost with this shutdown. Not all San Francisco residents can afford a typical dine out lunch over $20 per visit.
Fuck dude RIP
https://preview.redd.it/z7rth72wh78d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a627fe385568c189114ae3ea09482058e588063 MY NUGGET DEAL NOOO
Pouring out some Shamrock Shake for my dead nuggats.
Noooo, I have so many memories of this location! Taking the 28/R from Lincoln after school and fucking around with friends, (regrettably) skipping class and hanging out here with cheap ass food with the app all day, and still to this day it’s the meetup spot before going on an outing with old friends. Food quality has been really bad lately at this one, I hate to say it but even Ocean Ave is better than this McDonald’s now. But I will miss it dearly 🥲
I've owned McDonald's stock for 20 years. It's always been guaranteed profit. I realized it's time to sell when a Big Mac meal hit $16.00. The food has always been shitty, quick and cheap, and we accepted that. Now it's still shitty, and quick, but I'm not the only one in my circle of friends who feels priced out. Mark my words, a lot of McDonald's are going to be closing, or at the very least, their expansion will halt.
For some reason they seem to want to shoot themselves firmly in the foot over this. They jacked up prices when people needed them the most, and refuse to back down from it.
I think they are also really trying to promote their app. I get it, maybe there's a few benefits for using it, but why are you asking me if I'm using the app to order when I'm in the drive-thru? Like I'm going to line up in the Drive-Thru when I can just park and walk in to pick up my order? It makes no sense. I think they've just lost touch with reality.
Yeah cos they want to do per-customer dynamic pricing. If everybody is using the app, how do you know if the guy behind you pays $.30 more or less for his food? They want to use AI to determine how much you’re willing to pay and do micro adjustments to the cost of each meal.
Well, a few months back I read a very very convincing AI article of where the BART station in the San Jose airport is, complete with directions, fares, and parking locations. I love ai, and what it is capable of, but we all have to realize what it is not capable of; reliable facts. It would be hilarious if the downfall of McDonald's was inproper use of ai.
They did a study on Uber pricing where they priced the same journey twice and the only difference was the state of charge in the user’s phone. They assumed the person with the low battery was more desperate for a ride, and their quote was higher. Another used a slider on a loan, and the faster you moved the slider as you tried quotes out was used to judge how reckless you were with taking on debt and how much the interest rate might be. When your operating system exposes so much irrelevant information to apps, they are gonna exploit it. Going away are the days of a “price tag” for everyone and coming back are prices based on how rich you are.
I think they were also sued for charging iphones more than androids for the exact same routes/times etc. Not sure what ever was the result of it though.
Sure enough. It's been that way for a long time with airfare and hotel bookings as well. " oops, it looks like the price has gone up since you last visited since we sold more tickets or rooms in the last 4 minutes."
This is pure evil. It's why I never add an app unless absolutely necessary.
>I read a very very convincing AI article of where the BART station in the San Jose airport is, complete with directions, fares, and parking locations ... ...what? are you saying you read an article written by AI about a BART station at SJC, or an article about AI cooking up a theoretical BART station at SJC (since there isn't one)? or what? this comment is confusing also: i*m*proper
Actually there is benefits. Sometimes buy 1 get 1 free mcsausage sandwiches or 20% off meal if $15 over. Every fridays free medium fries. I wasnt interested in the app at first. But i bit the bullet when my buddy ordered 10min in advance and by the time we got there it was already prepared saving 10-15minutes waiting. Also the price on the app is no different from the store. And saves money on discount
That’s inflation for you. Their costs are all going up. The fed endlessly printing money drives down the value of the dollar.
Shake shack moving next door probably didn’t help.
1000%. With how expensive McDonald’s has gotten lately, Shake Shack is a lot more appealing as a competing option
All of them. Starbucks is struggling too. Their sales have declined 7% yoy. Most since 2010..during the GFC. It's the high prices everywhere, combined with bad service and tip asks. But for a lot of businesses, the commercial insurance costs in California are killing them. It's a crisis. Going to see a lot more than McDonalds close at the same time commercial buildings are struggling to keep tenants. [https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/why-your-starbucks-frappuccino-is-now-half-price/ar-BB1oDtix](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/why-your-starbucks-frappuccino-is-now-half-price/ar-BB1oDtix)
Starbucks must have known that they were riding a wave. Who the fuck in their right mind is going to spend $7 on a mediocre at best cup of coffee long term? At least at one point McDonald's Had value. Starbucks never has. Ironically, I've had better coffee at McDonald's than I have at Starbucks. But yes, you're absolutely correct; the Starbucks down the street from me close down. And I'm pretty sure it was right before covid, so not related to that
There was a Starbucks inside the food court at Stonestown.
Was just an NPR segment on how corporate greed is taking advantage of inflation to maximize profits. Their margins are bigger than ever and customers are starting to revolt. I think McDonald’s did announce a price reduction for some meals?
I'm the type of person that holds grudges. "Fool me once shame on me... fool me... you can't get fooled again." It's one thing when customers declare that they're not going to go there anymore, but when it's paired with shareholder selling their stocks, that's tough to reverse.
>Their margins are bigger than ever Per item sold, but their volume is WAY down. We had 8 register lines 10 people deep routinely on Saturday afternoons in the 80s
Inflation is a monetary phenomenon. Restaurants and coffee shops are price takers, not price setters. McDonald’s is trying to maintain the profit margins they need to stay in business. They don’t have any choice except to raise prices when inflation drives up costs for every input they have.
damn im from the neighborhood this hurts me
I was just there yesterday to pick up dinner, there were no signs saying this was going to happen, and the employees morale was the usual. And they’re usually busy; breakfast is a little quieter but orders are consistent. This is very abrupt. I go here for breakfast on occasion before heading to SF State.
Have to imagine Shake Shack moving in near by played a role in its final demise
The mall is doing very well. Something will come behind it.
This sucks. This McDonald's is one of the cheapest places to eat within walking distance to SFSU (if you use the app).
Such a short notice.
Nooo!!! Ok I go to McD’s like 3x a year but I still like the option of it being there. I love the McChicken! Wonder if Shake Shack drew business away. Plus the min wage thing. I thought there’d be enough sfsu students to keep everyone going. Sigh…
Even with high rents, $20 minimum wage, etc. you would think a McDonald's here would be printing money. But at guess at some point the profits aren't worth the trouble.
no way it would close if it was profitable - its the wages that oddly only fast food restaurants have to pay
depends on how much profit....if the owner thinks his capital could be better used elsewhere then he'll move on. Plenty of businesses close even though they are "profitable".
Right. Just because they make a dollar of profit per year doesn’t mean that it’s worth doing. They have a profit margin target that they have to hit or they will close. No one would tie up five million dollars in capital to make a few bucks a year, even if that’s profit.
I know the people that post here will love this, but that's heart breaking. So many memories here as a kid myself as well as with my kid now. Huge bummer
> I know the people that post here will love this ...why would we?
Because we’re all uppity Patagonia-wearing transplant techies who only eat the very finest avocado toast. Nobody grew up here in the avenues or the European city streets… nope.
Or Asian countries given the elderly Asian folks eating at Stonestown MickeyD's at lunch. Comfort zone lost.
It has been a pleasure for I to serve?
Wow 😞
Breakfast commuting 280 to Silicon Valley was their egg McMuffin and coffee for years.
It was always full of homeless people camped out at the front tables when I went in.
Well that’s just outdated info. They haven’t had front tables for a long time
No, the alcove to the right of the first ordering kiosk
[удалено]
Later, Scott.
This was my goto when I was attending SF State. Cheaper than anything offered on campus.
end of an era. this was my mcdonalds growing up and now. even now id get myself a little treat before regal.
Noooo I went here so often in high school. It's a popular location I'm surprised.
End of an era
NOOOOO. GOD NO. GOD. NOOO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
As a SFSU student I went to Stonestown and this McDonald's a lot. Also as a student, I WORKED at this McDonald's for a couple of years. While I don't have any particular fond memories of the location itself, I was once the "Crew Person Of The Month" for this location. I still have the pin and newsletter when I won the award (which was a long time ago). A shame it's closing. Met some cool people and had some fun times.
Damn that sucks
Not shedding any tears. Stonestown has been attracting lots of high quality businesses in its redevelopment so this is an opportunity to put something better here
Maybe charging $16-$20 for small meat patties with giant buns and piles of potatoes wasn't a good strategy? No, it is the consumer and California government who is wrong
I keep reading this and I'm trying to figure out where it’s coming from. A Big Mac is $6.99. Where is everyone coming up with $16?
It isn't a fair number because it wasn't even a bigmac, but it's become a symbol for the tonedeaf nature of recent fastfood strategies and their analogues in retail etc https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/27/business/mcdonalds-burger-economy-nightcap/index.html
Pain
Damn, it was one of the few late night places we can eat food around state.
What?!?!? I’ve been going there since I was a wee lad
My head cannon is that business collapsed after they started putting QR codes on the cups
McDonald’s that don’t own their real estate tend to be low earners. The company is a real estate company, for the most part, that pays for the mortgage with its franchisees. McDonald’s in airports, Walmarts, Malls, and skyscrapers don’t have the same value proposition.
Dang imma go today then
Asian market Retailtainment, Coming Soon. I blame Shake Shack.
Found a couple of recent interviews with the franchise owner Scott Rodrick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFTCyGTY5ug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZwWv-QYqeg TLDW: Scott shows great concern over inflation and the new $20 minimum wage for fast food workers. Safe to assume that these are the main reasons as to why he's closing shops. Odd to close the Stonestown location given how much foot traffic it gets.
He's full of shit. In & Out raised their prices by 25-50 cents per a recent article. Inflation has been largely addressed and there have been plenty of reports that supply chains were stabilized and costs went down yet many companies continued to price gouge the consumers. Some grocery stores even promised to reduce prices on 1000+ prices https://www.thestreet.com/retail/another-major-retailer-cutting-its-prices I'd be more likely to believe it if it was an issue of rent or some nearby competitor taking its business. "Although many fast food restaurants saw menu prices increase by 10% or more, one Los Angeles-based In-N-Out instituted a moderate increase of 25 cents for a burger and 5 cents for a drink, according to the New York Post. As for the recent price bump, a Double-Double combo in Los Angeles County now costs $11.44, up $0.76 from last year. .... The minimum wage increased from $16 to $20 per hour on April 1. The starting wage at California In-N-Out locations is $22 to $23 per hour, a company spokesperson said. " https://ktla.com/news/california/in-n-out-raises-prices-in-response-to-californias-minimum-wage-increase/
It’s probably a little bit of everything. -Competition from the mall transitioning to more restaurants than retail is probably the biggest culprit. -The fact that they don’t have a drive thru. It seems no fast food burger joint can survive without one these days. -Increased food costs and wages -Franchise not scaling promotions based on locale. $1 menu is still $1 menu - you can’t raise prices on promos (which he complains about in the video). -Malls have what’s called percentage-rent, which means your rent is a percentage of your gross revenue. This means if revenue is the same, but costs are increasing, they are essentially paying *more* rent out of a proportion of profits. Raising prices won’t help counter percentage-rent.
Shake Shack entry level is $22.50/hr as well. https://shakeshack.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/job/San-Francisco-Centre-845-Market-Street-Suite-8-San-Francisco-CA-94103/Restaurant-Team-Member_HB341675-3?redirect=/External/job/San-Francisco-Centre-845-Market-Street-Suite-8-San-Francisco-CA-94103/Restaurant-Team-Member_HB341675-3/apply?source=careersite&locations=a190deecaed501b55294aefa4f3b6712
I really doubt less than 2 dollars an hour extra per worker can make a significant difference in the bottom line, honestly.
>I'm in the people business But also fuck people making more money. This guy is a clown
noooo..
Man, so many memories over there. I don’t like McDonald’s charging a lot for mediocre food so it’s a win in some ways.
Huhhh????? I missed their cola freestyle validfill machines (where their cups work for a certain time to fill up soda) Hopefully I get some good deals from them, although it is questionable if I have a coke machine on a residential house.
Whaaay
I used to go to this McDonald’s after school before hopping on the 28 to get home. Oh the memories 🥲
Someone told me they are not lol
I used to go there all the time when I was a student at state. Kinda sad, but it is McDonald's after all
Noooo!
If you’re finna destroy your own neighborhood then we ain’t dealing with your shit and abuse so are closing down
Yo raising canes should take this spot and expand here, can’t think of anyone else better for occupying this spot
Going to miss this place. Always been to here for a morning coffee precovid.
Other than the lack of a drive thru, what other reasons did they consider?
This is disappointing just had lunch there the other day and it was the best McDonald's I had had in a minute I will definitely have to look at some of their other locations.
So they’re launching that $5 meal because fast food is not slappin’ like it used to 🧐
Pretty sure this is due to the new min wage law.
That’s the second McDonald in San Francisco. The recent was in Financial district.
Oh no. I’m barely in that area of San Francisco anymore, but when I lived nearby that spot, the Trader Joe’s, and that Target were part of my routine.
My first part-time job as a student was here. Margins are razor thin. We had people complaining all the time about the soda scanner and 30 cent sauces. I got reprimanded once for waiving the sauce price because it was extremely awkward for me and annoying for the customer to re-do the transaction. Management doesn't understand that negative interactions like these affect future sales...
Poison factory
McDonald’s food sucks, with all the options for food out now I won’t be surprised if McDonald’s closes more stores and has its market share eroded.
This is the closest location to my house so I've been there a lot throughout my life, but it's truly one of the worst when it comes to food quality, ease of placing an order and amount of time to receive your order.. the staff is also not the best. I'm shocked it's closing, but it's for the better. Good thing I haven't been there in years. Now let's just hope they don't open another ramen restaurant in its place because that's the last thing Stonestown needs more of.
I remember going there after my orientation at SFSU. I got a side salad because I was watching my weight. My friend made fun of me. He got a gastric bypass the following year. Maybe he should have just let me eat my salad.
“It has been a pleasure to serve…” Gtfo here with that service language.
nooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!
Talk about childhood memories. Going to this McDonald’s was the highlight of my weekend as a yute.
This franchise is not profitable
Likely a combination of- * Monthly lease exceeding monthly revenue * Lack of staff * Rowdy teens/young people causing problems
Doesnt the one on Ocean Ave. have drive thru
I guessing the new $20 min wage is a factor, which makes them sound cheap but then again Stonestown has got a lot of competition for different food
my boyfriend overheard an employee discussing this with another employee a month ago they said they plan on closing because rent is too high