One of the combination McDonald's / Shell Stations closed in my area.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I remember when they built the combination McDonald’s / Shell Station in the mid 90’s. It’s a half mile down the road from the original McDonald’s built in the 1960’s.

Went by there today and all the gas pumps were gone. Looked inside the building and the store was just an empty room.

It looks so strange and empty. No parked cars. No people.

The McDonald’s is still operating. I think you can still get inside using the door beside the drive thru. I’m pretty sure the doors are locked on the convenience store side of the building.

Did McDonald’s own both businesses? I’ve never seen one of these combination businesses fail before.

There’s a combination McDonald’s / Valero about 4 miles away that’s still open.

2

That location got a really bad reputation a few years ago. Lots of cars parked, loud music, drinking, and gang fights.

I’d sometimes drive by coming home and see five or more police cruisers in the parking lot.

It’s been quiet for a couple years. But their business dropped off. I’d only fill up or visit the store in the daytime.

Fun times on the rough edge of Southwest LR. :wink:

I hope that McDonald’s doesn’t close too.

3

Chances are it was a private owner we ho had the franchises. I don’t think McDonald’s actually owns very many, if any, othe stores. I’m willing to be corrected though.

4

It is a good idea to combine a convenience store/ Gas station with a McDonald’s.

One stop shopping. You want a burger and get gas too since you’re there.

Profitable if one investor owns both franchises.

5

I agree with snfaulkner, I think it’s just one guy with two franchises.

By my house, there is a Wendy’s/Shell combination.

6

In my area Popeyes is in Shell. And Subway is in Valero. I have never eaten at either one. I’m kinda grossed out by gas station food. It carries over. But that’s just me. YMMV.

7

There’s a Shell/McDonald’s combo not too far from my town. Right along I-70. They seem to do a good business when ever I drive by, The McD’s was remodeled recently to install the self servise kiosks.

8

So are there like third party companies that set up these combo franchises?

9

McDonald’s does have some corporate-owned stores, but the majority are franchised, and the company is apparently trying to further decrease the percentage of stores that are company-owned.

However, McDonald’s also has an interesting business model – at most of their franchised stores, McDonald’s owns the real estate, and the franchisee pays rent on the property to the company.

Source: What Percentage of McDonald's Restaurants Are Owned by Franchisees? | The Motley Fool

10

Is that the one in the Village chopping center?

11

My little town has a combination Local/Godfather’s Pizza Express. Local is the name of the gas station/convenience store franchise.

12

Yes, intersection of University & Asher ave.

Us old timers remember the Howard Johnson that was there for thirty plus years. They bulldozed it in the mid 90’s to build the new McDonald’s / Shell station.

http://www.highwayhost.org/Arkansas/LittleRock/littlerock1.html

13

“just southwest of Little Rock’s city limits.” That was a while ago.

14

I was surprised they mentioned the Village Shopping center. Didn’t realize it dated back that far (1956). That’s before I was even born.

15

NJ has quite a few gas station/Dunkin’ Donut combos. The one by the homeless shelter did great business, and employed some of the shelter’s residents.

16

A couple of years ago, a biopic about Ray Kroc (starring Michael Keaton) was released, and this was a plot point. As I remember, early in the development of the franchise system, Kroc was having financial issues, even though the chain was growing and someone released the big money was in owning the real estate below the restaurants.

17

Both of the nearby Arby’s locations are attached to gas stations. The one in Suffolk is BP; the one in Franklin, I believe, is Exxon.

There’s also a Bojangle’s attached to a Love’s truck stop.