McDonald’s remains open while undergoing ‘Experience the Future’ remodel

The Breckenridge McDonald’s drive through will remain open as it undergoes remodeling as part of a corporate-wide ‘Experience the Future’ plan.

The restaurant’s tarp draped exterior seems to add to the intrigue of the remodel, which owner David Whealy believes will enhance customers’ dining experience.

“We’re putting in a kiosk that won’t take away from the front counter and it won’t cost jobs,” he said. “It actually takes a few more people because we’ll have table service.”

Whealy said once a customer places an order, he or she will receive a GPS tagged device and their food will be delivered to his or her table.

“We’re just trying to have more contact rather than ‘Hi, how are you? Let me take your order,’” Whealy said. “... We will probably have people out there showing people how to use the kiosk for a long period, but it will become second nature after a while. We will still take orders on the register. If you want to come in with a debit or credit card, it will use that. If you want to use cash, it will do that and give you a receipt that you can bring to the register with a number on it and it will ring your order up there so you can pay cash.”

Other additions to the store include expanding the lobby 10 to 12 feet and installing a double drive through.

“Right now, we’re doing about 75 percent drive through anyway,” Whealy said. “Hopefully, we keep that 75 percent and build more in the lobby with a bigger lobby and a different kind of service.”

Whealy said McDonald’s Corporation seeks to have all of its stores on the ‘Experience the Future’ model by 2020.

“They probably would have had us going a little bit later, but I was scheduled for the remodel,” Whealy said. “It’s really done well at the stores it’s gone on. Most of them in Dallas are already that way and they’re experiencing some good growth trends. The stock has gone up to over $165 per share. It was at $99 or something like that this time last year. People are seeing it’s the wave of the future.”

One drawback of the remodel will be the removal of the restaurant’s outdoor play area. Whealy said the decision came by necessity with restaurants trending away from outdoor play areas due to insurance liabilities and other issues.

“I’m not going to have a playland right now,” Whealy said. “Once I see the room that I have, we’ll come back in a while and put some interactive games there. Hopefully that will suffice ... I know it’s a big thing. It’s something I’ll look at later on to see if a small one will do and I’ll find a place to put it. At this point, we’re just going to go without and see how it goes.”