[blueerica]

A case study I was working on about a year and a half ago discussed McD's plans to branch into this area, to compete with Starbucks. It's been tit-for-tat for both parties, with Starbucks' breakfast sandwiches and McD's big play on how their coffee wins out taste tests against Starbucks. McD's regular stores have slowly been undergoing remodels, to reflect this change as well: muted colors, more chrome, better lighting, seating not meant to make people grab their food and go.

McD's numbers (though large) have been in a slump, if I remember correctly, and they're hoping to capture the gourmet coffee-shop trend. This will probably be more successful in other areas of the country, I surmise, since the trend has been played for about two decades in more metropolitan areas, such as southern and northern California, etc, etc, etc. It could, I suppose, play better for tourists, looking for the familiar arches.