McDonald’s Is Closing 200 Locations This Year—Here’s What We Know

Your local golden arches may be disappearing.

The coronavirus pandemic has continued to make its mark well into 2021. Last year, many fast-food restaurants closed their dining rooms and turned to online ordering, and most retailers saw a steep drop in sales. This means plenty of locations in both fast food and retail called it quits, with Starbucks, Macy’s and Disney closing stores across the country.

Unfortunately, the pandemic also affected sales at the Golden Arches. McDonald’s has announced that it will be closing hundreds of its locations in Walmart stores across the nation.

Why Is McDonald’s Closing?

According to the Wall Street Journal, this is a huge change in the 30-year relationship between Walmart and McDonald’s. The fast-food giant was hit hard by the pandemic last year.  The slowdown caused by COVID-19 had McDonald’s seeing its lowest profits in 13 years, and while fast-food chains are finding their feet again, McDonald’s is taking the cautious route.

The outlets at Walmart don’t generate much traffic, and McD’s plans to shut down roughly 200 of them, leaving only 150 in service across the country.

But Wait—Here’s the Good News

While McDonald’s will be disappearing from several Walmart locations by the end of the year, other locations won’t follow suit anytime soon. As of 2018, there are more than 13,000 McDonald’s locations in the US alone and nearly 40,000 locations worldwide. Plus, we might be seeing some variety at Walmart soon. In the past, Walmart has filled the empty restaurant space with Taco Bell, Domino’s and Charleys Philly Steaks. We’ll  miss grabbing McDonald’s at the end of our grocery run, but on the plus side, your McD’s drive-thru experience might be faster soon.

And we have plenty of other reasons to love Walmart, especially after it launched a great membership program with tons of benefits.

Amrita Thakkar
Amrita is a writer, poet and amateur photographer who often ends up applying these skills to her one great love: food. You can find her up at 3 a.m. writing, researching the perfect combo for her next grilled cheese or making a more eco-friendly grocery list.