McDonald’s to invest $8.5 billion in restaurant upgrades, technology
McDonald’s Corp. is launching a major initiative to make its restaurants more efficient and to be the “first choice” for more customers.
As part of its “McDonald’s > NEXT” strategy, the restaurant giant said it plans to invest $8.5 billion in support to franchisees over the next decade on restaurant modernization, technology deployment and operational improvements through a combination of rent relief and capital support. The investment includes approximately $5 billion through 2030.
The company plans to provide more details about its "Restaurant > NEXT" program, which is designed to catalyze growth and fuels productivity through elevated execution, simplifying operations and modernizing restaurant design. It also will feature the deployment of “ArchIQ,” an AI-powered operating system for restaurants.
The strategy will be supported by “Make It Golden,” a multi-year employee training commitment to elevate the customer experience by delivering great food and great customer service. The program will launch on Oct. 5, the 124th birthday of founder Ray Kroc.
From 2027 through 2030, McDonald’s expects about $3 billion in baseline annual capital expenditures, plus a cumulative $1.5 billion to $2 billion in capital support to accelerate restaurant upgrades.
"McDonald's has the unmatched scale, customer insights, brand loyalty, and operational capabilities to not only adapt to the next wave of change in our industry, but to turn it into an advantage," said McDonald's chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski. "That's what McDonald's > NEXT is about: to be the first choice for more customers, more often — while making our restaurants stronger and easier to run. We are confident that executing across the key components of NEXT will unlock stronger restaurant economics, generate attractive returns for the company, our franchisees and shareholders, and increase capacity to keep investing in growth."
Headquartered in Chicago, McDonald’s has more than 46,000 locations in over 100 countries. Approximately 95% percent of them are owned and operated by independent local business owners.
