McDonald’s Finding Success in Mideast

McDonald’s Corp. says it is surpassing expectations in its bid to export its fast-food restaurants to the Middle East.

James Skinner, senior vice president in charge of Middle East development, declined to disclose sales figures or say how long after its opening a Middle East restaurant begins to turn a profit.

That McDonald’s is doing well there is no surprise to analysts familiar with the company’s success exporting its finely tuned fast-food delivery system to countries as diverse as Russia, Thailand and China.

“I can’t think of a single market where they haven’t done a bang-up job,” said Allan Hickok, an analyst with Piper Jaffray Inc. in Minneapolis.

“I ultimately think they will end up colonizing the world with the Big Mac.”

Since opening its first restaurant in Tel Aviv last fall, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based fast-food giant has opened others in the Saudia Arabian cities of Riyadh and Jeddah.

The company plans to open a second outlet in Tel Aviv this week and a restaurant in Oman in March. Restaurants are scheduled for Kuwait in June and Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Egypt in November. One in Qatar is expected after that.

In all, McDonald’s expects to have 25 restaurants in the region by the end of 1994, Skinner said. Worldwide, the company had nearly 14,000 restaurants at the end of 1993. Of those, 4,710 were outside the United States.

Skinner said its Middle East expansion represents the first new foreign market McDonald’s has entered in several years. And in a departure from previous practice, McDonald’s is making a concentrated effort, opening outlets in eight countries in about 14 months.

Some observers might question the wisdom of bringing a high-profile American icon such as the golden arches into an area where the United States is sometimes called the “Great Satan.”

However, industry analysts say people in the Middle East distinguish between American culture and its political dealings.

“They might not want anything to do with America or Bill Clinton,” Hickok said. “But don’t confuse that with a burger, fries and a Coke.”

That’s not to say McDonald’s doesn’t have to modify its methods. Skinner said the restaurants in Saudia Arabia close four times a day for 30 to 40 minutes to accommodate Muslim prayer traditions.

The Jeddah restaurant is about 7,000 square feet--considerably larger than typical U.S. stores that range from 2,000 to 3,500 square feet, Skinner said.