Everyone knows what McDonald's is, as it's one of the most popular fast-food chains in the world. However, not everyone knows that it also has a spin-off cafe called CosMc’s, which has a different menu than its parent restaurant. Granted, out of 7 locations this place had, 6 of them were in Texas, so no surprise that many weren't in the know.
Now, the spot will have even fewer locations, as apparently, the company decided to close 3 of them to rework them. Funnily enough, when the news broke, netizens' reaction could be summed up with the joke "and the crowd goes mild!"
While everyone knows what McDonald's is, not everyone is aware that it also has a spin-off restaurant called CosMc's
Image credits: cosmcs
It had 7 locations in the United States — 1 in Illinois and 6 in Texas, 3 of which opened between the end of 2023 and throughout 2024
It was reported that McDonald’s is planning to close half (3 out of 7) of its spin-off locations CosMc’s in Texas only after a year in business.
This restaurant is one of McDonald's attempts to expand its business. For instance, back in 1999, they bought Donatos Pizza Inc., with an aim to become a player in the pizza industry. Later, the majority interest in the company was repurchased by the pizzeria’s founder and his daughter.
Among their attempts, there have also been purchases of Chipotle Mexican Grill (1998), Boston Market (2000), Aroma Cafe (1999), and Pret a Manger (2001). Yet, in 2008, the company gave up stakes they had in these businesses, as they decided to concentrate on their own brand.
Image credits: cosmcs
A few days ago, it was announced that 3 of its Texas locations will be closing after only a year in the business
Then, by the end of 2023, they decided to give CosMc's a chance. The name of the restaurant is the same as one of the characters in McDonald’s lore. CosMc was an alien character who craved McDonald’s food, visited McDonaldland, and was featured in a series of commercials and a video game between the years of 1986 and 1992. Now, he has become the mascot of his own restaurant.
As can be seen in CosMc’s online menu, the spin-off restaurant focuses on drinks and treats, but not hamburgers and similar food like McDonald’s does. They offer some sandwiches but mostly focus on various brews (meaning coffee, not beer), lemonades, slushies, sodas, shakes, ice creams, and bites with baked goods. So, like the dessert part of the McDonald’s experience.
The first CosMc’s was opened in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, Illinois. As the corporate website states, this was a testing attempt of a small-format experience with “its own unique brand and identity.”
Image credits: Samuel Figueroa / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Apparently, the company is planning to replace bigger spots with smaller ones, arguing it works better for them this way
People were excited about this opening. A bunch of cars were lined up for hours at this drive-thru-only spot. A woman named Tanya Michael even flew to Illinois from London so that she could try CosMc’s.
So, with such a promising start, pretty soon, throughout 2024, McDonald’s started opening additional restaurants, all in Texas. At one point, there were 7 total CosMc’s – 6 in Texas and the original one in Illinois.
Then, about 13 months after the first restaurant's introduction, it was announced that McDonald’s would be closing half of the Texas locations – 3. The company announced that instead of these spots, they’ll be opening two smaller locations, arguing that such a size works better for them, as it allows them to test unique circumstances that reflect their customer base.
Image credits: Burst / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Currently, only one address (again in Texas) is listed on their site as “coming soon”, while the other is still unknown. Well, the announcement of new spots suggests that it is not over for CosMc, but it also shows that they might not be doing as well as the company thought if smaller locations are needed.
When the news broke, quite a few of those netizens who weren’t apathetic towards it started expressing their discontent with such a place even existing. People started complaining about McDonald’s unhealthy food and suggesting that instead of opening more restaurants of the sort, they should opt for healthier spots.
Well, who knows what the future holds? Maybe one day McDonald’s will actually open some healthier restaurants, or maybe they’ll stick to the brand they already have, even if it isn’t nutritious.
When the news broke, netizens were quite apathetic and mostly talked about how instead of opening more unhealthy restaurants, McDonald's should opt for more healthy ones
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