McDonald's closes swathe of US branches as sales drop
First time in 45 years the fast food chain closes more stores than it has opened
US hamburger giant Mcdonald’s plans to close 59 of its US locations this year in a move to cut costs and try to revive sales.
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The closure would represent the first time in 45 years that the fast food chain has closed more restaurants than it has opened.
There have been 184 golden-arched restaurants closed and only opened 125 new openings so far in 2015, according to a franchise operations document filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce last month.
The company launched its Hamburglar marketing campaign as part of an effort to help the sales of the "third-pounder" sirloin burgers and show that the company's low-priced food was also high-quality, but this failed to boost sales as hoped.
Read more: McDonald's Hamburglar campaign serves up tepid results
Comparable sales in the US fell by 2% in the second quarter of 2015. The company argued that "the featured products and promotions did not achieve expected consumer response amid ongoing competitive activity".
McDonald's revenues in the first half of the year fell by 10% to $12.5bn and net income dropped by 22% to $2bn.
In April, the US giant announced that it would close around 700 branches worldwide, including 350 restaurants in China, Japan and the US.
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