McDonald’s plans to reduce number of franchises in Slovakia

While global group McDonald's announced only last year that it would increase the number of restaurants run as franchises by local operators worldwide from 81 to 90 percent, McDonald's in Slovakia is rumoured to be planning the opposite, the Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote earlier this week. According to the paper, McDonald's is reportedly buying out franchise operations in Slovakia, although the company hasn't officially confirmed such information. "We constantly revise our business structure in order to optimise our results and grow in the long term," said the firm's spokesperson Zuzana Svobodová when asked about mass branch purchases. Another, more specific piece of news seems to confirm the speculation. McDonald's has quit the Slovak Franchising Association. The most probable motivation behind its moves is paradoxically based on the brand's success on the Slovak market. It hasn't slipped into the red over the past five years, and efforts to achieve even better-running operations could be a good reason for a step like this.