McDonald’s (MCD) Dollar Menu must be appealing in tight times, but the food and beverage exchange traded fund (ETF) does seem to be eating it up.
The world’s largest purveyor of fast food reported that same-store sales worldwide jumped 8.2% last month, on the strength of value-seeking consumers, reports Lauren Shepherd for the Associated Press. Even as consumers closed their wallets on recession anxiety and the credit markets seized up, the lure of the Golden Arches proved strong. In the United States, same-store sales rose 5.3%.
Another fast-food giant, KFC, which is owned by Yum! Brands (YUM), is infiltrating the Chinese market. Since 1987, KFC has opened more than 2,000 stores in the country, while continuing to add 300 yearly. The pace is unprecendented in China’s restaurant industry, reports Martin Adams for China International Business.
KFC in China differs from what we know of it in the United States, too. There, it caters to the more “upwardly mobile” middle-class types, perhaps making it the Chart House of China.