Rosemont Rocks!

McDonald's store #13058, corner of Higgins & River Roads in Rosemont, Illinois, USA ... YOU are the best!

Settle in, this one is going to take a few minutes.

The McChronicles was making its way through town when it drove by a fairly typical-looking McDonald's. We made a mental note of the location, for future action. Admittedly we were intrigued by both the convenient location and the huge water tower right behind the store. But we were mesmerized by the painters repainting the imposing structure.

We came back a day later, prepared to be unimpressed. Man were we wrong! First impression: this was the CLEANEST McDonald's we had ever seen. It looked like the store was just built yesterday. We peeked behind the counter and were stunned by the incredibly neat, labeled storage area and items. Impeccable! And the condiment area was in perfect order: clean, well-arranged, and fully functional. Customers LOVE that.


Next up was a wall full of awards. Year after year of OUTSTANDING MANAGER awards, year after year of OUTSTANDING DRIVE THRU awards. Wow!

Then we noticed something really cool. A large number of large flat panel displays showing very current music videos. As we sat down we noticed, at each table, a menu for music. This McDonald's had just unveiled, this very day we were told, a new music system called m-Venue Juke Box "Top Pop". According to BusinessWeek Online,

"McDonald's restaurants in Schaumburg, Ill., and St. Augustine, Fla., this month launched an in-store entertainment and marketing service that is activated by mobile phone. Customers in designated multimedia zones can send text messages to order up music, music videos and movie previews from Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Sony Pictures.

This "m-Venue" service is to be offered at more McDonald's locations by year's end -- for free during the launch, then available via download for a fee."

Customers can select a song/video from the menu, text message its code, and have their song play. The McChronicles was given a brief tour of the new system by an excellent Swing Manager named Jays C. We let her choose the song (Justin Timberlake's newest release) and we texted away. Within 60 seconds our selection was playing throughout the store. And the sound system is perfect! Full sound, not too loud. Awesome!

We were pretty blown away by the whole situation, until we saw "it". "It" was a beautiful banner. Bright, simple, and really easy to understand, and it said, "The World's Best Employees Work Here". Finally, we understood. And we were beyond blown away.

We re-engaged Jays and asked her about this banner, about the person behind all the cool things in her store. Jays made it clear that the store owner is a really awesome person. A person who truly believes in people, who empowers their crew, and who truly likes their team. The McChronicles noticed a small sign on the side of the order area, for crew's eyes only. It said that, since this was National People Day, the owner wanted to take the opportunity to thank every crew member for being so good, so productive, etc. And it was written in 3 languages.

The McChronicles is a firm believer in the saying, "Take care of your people and your people will take care of the customer". This store's owner truly respects their crew, and the crew does the rest: spotless exterior, CLEANEST interior, proud workers, helpful staff, cheerful faces, innovative devices that the crew knew how to operate. Simply outstanding!

This McDonald's is truly the most impressive that we have ever seen. It is the model that all others should follow. Not because it has the coolest decor, or because of some gimmick. No, this is the best because it embodies everything that we have been told McDonald's is. It lives up to the brand promise. It delivers QSC to the max, and it delivers due to the respect and appreciation shown the crew. Simply awesome!

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Images: The McChronicles.