History of fast-food franchises

With all the major developments our world has come out with in the past century, it has become a lot easier to turn restaurants into chains and spread the word about various companies. Just like when the railroad was invented in the early 1800s, it became much easier for families to move to the western part of North America. Transportation, communication, and ease of access to supplies were all factors in the globalization of franchises. Two of the first franchise or chain restaurants to open up were A&W and White Castle, both in the United States.

One of the more well-known franchises, McDonalds, started up in 1940 as just a single restaurant. The idea of having customers come to a place where the wait time was minimal, prices were low, and they could always rely on the fact that the food they were getting would taste as it did the last time they had it were the main goals that Richard and Maurice McDonald had when they opened the now-famous restaurant. This brilliant idea turned out to be very successful and made a man named Ray Kroc think of the idea of a franchise. From then on, and most likely far into the future, franchises have been and will be a huge part of our society and culture.

By the 1960s, business men could see how popular the McDonald’s franchise had become, and competitors such as Burger King and Subway were started up to try and feed off the popularity of this new way of getting food. The franchise idea started out in the United States, but over time, it began to spread to other countries, and even in other continents. When it did reach the other continents, this was the first time societies there had seen this idea of fast, cheap, and standardized food. The closest thing they had were street vendors and concession stands, but this was still a major change. Needless to say, it wasn’t hard to gain supporters of the restaurants and idea in general.

From that point on, the main goals of these companies were to increase profit and expand throughout the world. Opening up another restaurant in a new area or country is always beneficial to them because it spreads their name and shows customers how good their food is (not always good for you though!). Even convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and ampm have figured out that it isn’t too hard to make a profit from cheap, “convenient” stores. In our society today, people don’t like waiting for anything. They want results right away and without any hassle. This can be seen with cell phones, the internet, and technology in general. Maybe this idea is somehow linked with the fast-food franchises that are practically on every street corner and every developed continent.

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Has the globalization of fast food painted a negative image of America's restaurants?

McDonald's

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Fast food