Dec 6, 2023 - Economy

McDonald's plans 10,000 new restaurants by 2027

Kelly Tyko

McDonald's sign in front of a restaurant location — McDonald's is looking to grow its global footprint to 50,000 locations by 2027. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

McDonald's officials said Wednesday that the company is planning to expand at a record pace and open 10,000 new restaurants by the end of 2027

Why it matters: The restaurant expansion is expected to drive global sales and profitability for the fast-food giant. Just around 900 of the new locations are expected to be in the U.S.

Driving the news: The fast-food giant unveiled new growth targets Wednesday on how it will grow sales around the world during an investor event.

With the expansion, McDonald's global store count is expected to grow to 50,000 locations in the next four years.

Context: In the last decade, McDonald's has grown by 5,000 locations, said Manu Steijaert, the company's executive vice president and global chief customer officer.

It took the company 33 years to get to its first 10,000 locations, Steijaert said.

Zoom in: In addition to expanding locations, officials outlined a plan to grow loyalty members from 150 million members to 250 million members by 2027.

Loyalty members spend twice as much as non-members, McDonald's USA president Joe Erlinger said.

The chain will bring updates to its burgers to "nearly all markets" by 2026. The burger updates have been rolling out in the U.S.
McDonald's also announced a partnership with Google Cloud Wednesday to apply generative AI solutions across its restaurants worldwide.

Of note: Starbucks announced last month that it plans to open 17,000 stores to bring its global store count to 55,000 by 2030.

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