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McDonald’s Launching National All-Day Breakfast Menu That Includes McGriddles

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Building on the success it’s had so far with its all-day breakfast menu, McDonald’s has announced it will be expanding its offerings in that category with the launch of a new menu that will be available at all Golden Arches locations nationwide.

In a national rollout starting in late August and continuing through September, McDonald’s 16,000 or so locations nationwide will have one menu to rule them all, which will include both biscuits and McMuffin sandwiches, as well as McGriddles.

“To continue to give customers more of their favorite breakfast items anytime of the day, McDonald’s will be shifting to one national All Day Breakfast menu allowing guests to enjoy even more breakfast choices nationwide at participating restaurants,” the company said.

When McDonald’s first unveiled All-Day breakfast, menu options were limited to either biscuit or muffin sandwiches — depending on local preferences — pancakes, and some other options, with the idea of keeping things simple.

Back in January, we reported that McDonald’s was testing the addition of its McGriddle to all-day breakfast menus in Oklahoma. Then in March, the company announced it was testing a full all-day breakfast menu in a few markets.

The Golden Arches expanded the McGriddles test at the end of that month as well, after they proved to be a popular addition.

Which brings us to today’s news. Here’s what’s slated to be on the new all-day breakfast menu, according to McDonald’s: Egg McMuffin, Sausage McMuffin with Egg, Sausage McMuffin, Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, Sausage Biscuit with Egg, Sausage Biscuit, Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddles, Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddles, Sausage McGriddles, Hotcakes, Hotcakes and Sausage, Sausage Burrito, Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait, and Hashbrowns (varies by restaurant).

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fencepost
3059 days ago
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So is there anything on the breakfast menu that WON'T be all-day?
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Best Buy Defies Everyone’s Expectations, Is Mysteriously Not Dead

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Over the last few years, Best Buy has taken the internet’s snide jokes about using its stores as an Amazon showroom, listened to them, and then stubbornly refused to go out of business. Best Buy calls its results this quarter “better than expected,” which is true, but their continuing existence is also “better than expected.” It’s the last national big-box electronics retailer standing, with $39.5 billion in revenue during the fiscal year that ended in January 2016 and growing online sales.

Let’s take a look at how the company is doing, based on its most recent quarterly report.

Signs of life: Best Buy presents its numbers based on comparable store sales: stores that just opened or that closed during the year aren’t included in the numbers. Based on that, their total revenue is down just .1% quarter, across their whole business, including international stores.

Online sales went up 24% compared to this time last year, which is an impressive boost. Appliance sales increased slightly, another great sign. While the company didn’t break out the amount of appliance sales in their report, the percentage of their total income that Best Buy took in from appliances increased slightly, from 8% to 9%.

Attracting appliance sales is important for the company’s future. In the coming years, if more Sears stores close, customers who might have gone to Sears to buy their home appliances have to go somewhere, and some of that business will go to Best Buy.

The company reports that stronger sales of wearable devices boosted their income from consumer electronics, but didn’t break out the sales increase for just that category apart from consumer electronics in general.

People rushing to the store to buy a new TV for the Super Bowl is apparently a real thing, since Best Buy noticed a tiny effect (.8%) on their sales from having the big game fall during the month of February, since their fiscal year begins on February 1. Super Bowl 2017 will also be in February, making direct comparisons between the quarters possible.

Symptoms to watch: Most of Best Buy’s business depends on consumer whims and on what other companies choose to do, like smartphone makers’ release schedules, game release schedules, and even the timing of the Super Bowl.

While manufacturers making devices that are more durable is generally a good thing for consumers, it’s not as great for Best Buy’s Geek Squad repair and services unit. The company’s sales of services in general were down 10.7%, and it reported that warranty repair services were down. Spending less time separated from their devices is great for consumers, but losing that income is bad for Best Buy.

The percentage of the retailer’s revenue that came from computers and mobile phones stayed the same since this time last year: it was 47%. Total revenue was down slightly, making computer and phone sales an issue in need of watchful waiting: since the beginning of 2015, the major mobile carriers have announced that they’re discontinuing contract plans.

Selling phones for cash or on installment plans should mean higher revenue, if not necessarily higher profits, but it’s stayed flat since 2015. Best Buy decided last year predicted that this change would stop making a difference by now, and stopped calculating the effect that this business model change has on their raw sales numbers.

How investors reacted: Shares dropped 7% after the earnings call on Tuesday morning, because of the small drop in revenues and profits, but largely because the company announced that chief financial officer Sharon McCollam will step down next month. The results that were better than expected might have prevented such a drop, but experts see McCollam as an important part of the company’s recovery over the last few years.

Prognosis: The future outlook for Best Buy remains good. Don’t rush over to cash in your gift cards just yet. Like its fellow mall anchor JCPenney, the chain has figured out the wisdom of having stores-in-stores, and has been transforming its stores into gadget food courts full of different brands. That sounds like we’re making fun of them, but we’re really not: this strategy is working for early participants in the mini-store concept like Samsung and Sony, and has been really great for home theater sales.

Especially if Best Buy is able to continue whatever is enticing more people to shop on their website, Best Buy is one mall anchor that’s generally going against the trend of mall anchor crappiness. Barring bad management or unforeseen problems, don’t worry about Best Buy: worry about the rest of the anchors in the average mall.

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fencepost
3099 days ago
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I've purchased more there in the past year than in the 5 before due to a combination of price-matching and "I need this tech item, I need it now, and it's not worth driving an hour to get it for $15 less elsewhere - then driving back." Some things that I would previously have picked up at TigerDirect now come from BBuy.
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Amazon Now Expanding Same-Day Delivery To All ZIP Codes In 27 Cities

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Two weeks after being called out for omitting ZIP codes with predominantly non-white residents from its same-day delivery service, Amazon is now pledging to cover those areas in all the markets where it offers the expedited delivery option.

Bloomberg reports that Amazon, which recently promised to expand same-day delivery coverage to areas of the New York City and Boston markets that had been ignored, has told the Congressional Black Caucus that it will expand Prime Same-Day to “every ZIP code of the 27 cities” where the service is currently available.

Amazon also says it won’t offer same-day service in any new markets unless it knows it will be able to deliver in every ZIP code of that market.

“We are still figuring out the details and procuring last mile delivery for each of these ZIPs,” says Amazon, “but we should have 100 percent coverage shortly.”

The issues with Amazon’s service came to light after a Bloomberg investigation found that non-white areas of six cities — Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York and Washington, D.C. — were not able to take advantage of the same-day delivery benefits seen in areas with more white residents.

The company has maintained that race was not a factor in deciding which areas to offer the same-day delivery option.

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3113 days ago
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The neighboring town (~100 feet from me) has it but mine doesn't, but I figured it was because they're basically wrapped around expressway where mine has areas that aren't nearly so quick to access.
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Zalgo Rly

jwz
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3134 days ago
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popular
3135 days ago
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Starbucks Launching Prepaid Card That Lets Rewards Members Earn Loyalty Points

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In a bid to lure more people to sign up for its loyalty program, Starbucks is launching a prepaid debit card soon that will let users rack up rewards “stars.”

The card will be offered through Chase and will be accepted anywhere that takes Visa, the Associated Press reports. There won’t be any monthly service or reloading fees, unlike other prepaid cards, a Chase rep says.

The only fees involved will be a $5 fee for a rush card replacement, a 3% foreign transaction fee, and a $75 legal processing fee that would come into play if a bank had to hold or pay out funds from that account due to legal action.

Starting next month,Starbucks is switching how rewards members earn points, from one star per transaction to one star per dollar spent. Members using the prepaid card won’t rack up stars at the same rate as they do for purchases at cafes, Kevin Johnson, Johson, chief operating officer for Starbucks said. Starbucks. The rate of rewards for the prepaid card will be revealed at a later date.

This isn’t Starbucks’ first attempt to woo rewards members by giving them other ways to earn stars outside of spending money in its cafes: the Seattle-based company previously worked out agreements to sell stars to he The New York Times, Spotify, andLyft. Those companies then hand out stars to their own customers.

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fencepost
3163 days ago
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I made a point of using their "order through the app" promos this month to extend my Gold level into 2017, but I'm the kind of customer they don't want ($2-3 coffees) so I don't expect it to last beyond that. What a screwed up change.
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Owner Of Old Country, HomeTown Buffets Closes Restaurants, Files For Bankruptcy

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Last month, we shared the news that Ovation Brands abruptly closed 74 restaurants, including the brands Hometown Buffet, Ryan’s Buffet, Fire Mountain, and Old Country Buffet. Yesterday, the chain closed the remainder of their restaurants during peak brunch buffet time, again without giving any advance notice to employees. Today, the chain filed for bankruptcy.

Customers and employees gathered in the parking lot when they couldn't enter the restaurant. (WREG)

The person who answered the phone at one restaurant in Pennsylvania said that the establishment would close for three days to take inventory. Employees at a restaurant in Memphis, TN showed up to work and learned that they weren’t needed. Then local police showed up to remove them from the property in the presence of a local TV news crew.

Signs say that the restaurants are closed until Tuesday for inventory.

The locations could re-open, or not. Yesterday, angry employees at the Memphis restaurant said that they had no idea what to do. “[The company] won’t give us no answers,” one employee told TV station WREG. “They won’t tell us nothing.”

Ovation Brands was born when Buffets Inc. and Ryan Brands merged 10 years ago. In the last eight years, the company has filed for bankruptcy three times. They claim to have $100 million in debts and $50 million in assets.

This sign is probably no longer accurate.

One restaurant business expert credited an overall trend toward healthier eating –– or at least not eating two days’ worth of calories in one sitting –– for the downturn in the buffet business.

HomeTown Buffet, affiliate dining chains file for bankruptcy [Reuters]
Unexpected Ryan’s Buffet closure leaves many jobless [WREG]
Old Country Buffets close in NEPA [Times Tribune]
Report: Ovation Brands files for bankruptcy [Nation’s Restaurant News]

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fencepost
3179 days ago
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Wall gosh dern it, I guess ah've missed mah chance fer some fine dining down at the boo-fey!
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1 public comment
bibliogrrl
3179 days ago
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god. This is terrible. I feel bad for every single employee.
Chicago!
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