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Changing Chinatown: McDonald's shuts down
By adamg on Tue, 08/04/2015 - 9:16pm
The McDonald's at Washington and Stuart streets closed for good on Friday after 25 years of being the only McDonald's in Boston with Chinese signs and a quasi-pagoda entrance decorated with Chinese-style lanterns.
No word if it's being replaced by a juice bar, which seems to be the thing in Chinatown these days. The Chinese-language Dunkin' Donuts seemed to be doing a thriving business down the street today.
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Comments
Formerly a movie theatre
This McDonald's replaced the Stuart Theatre (which was renamed to Pussycat for its last few years).
Yeah but
What was the Stuart Theatre's real name, hah? I ask you!
Bring back the theater that
Bring back the theater that was there!
McDonald's, a slowly dying chain?
Like KFC, McDonald's seems to be slowly fading away from the Boston area. In recent years, they've closed in Porter Square, Davis Square, and Medford's Meadow Glen Mall.
McDonald's
I heard a rumor a couple weeks ago that the McDonald's in Codman Square is going to be closed by the end of the summer as well. I think in a 15, maybe 20 years from now, hell maybe even sooner than that, there won't be McDonald's anywhere in the Northeast except for those huge rest areas on 95 in Connecticut between Boston and NYC. People are starting to think twice about what kind of food they put in their bodies, which is a good thing.
low profit margin food + high
low profit margin food + high rent = no more cheap fast food
Don't forget the labor cost
This is probably also a result of the impending wage raise for fast food workers.
Sound logic
If you own a business and close up shop because you think maybe at some point in the future you may have to pay your employees more than you currently are, then you're a terrible businessman and probably should never have opened one in the first place.
Some business don't have the
Some business don't have the margins to exist with higher wages. They either automate or go under.
Why do you think so many stores have ceased to exist and are mail order/online only now? Sales were too slow to pay employees and rent for storefronts.
Rising costs are a reality
How do you think you can sustain a business if you never raise wages? Your employees have to pay more for everything -- do you think they should work for you out of charity? If you don't factor rising wages into your business plan, if your teeny tiny margin depends on keeping wages stagnant forever -- then yes, you really should not be in business.
Eco 101
Wrong. McDonald's makes its business off of real estate. Selling a lucrative location like this (for a likely lagging restaurant) is what makes them successful in the first place. Selling burgers is not what makes them the big $$$.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/73533-mcdonalds-is-a-real-estate-company
Yes and no
That's true of McDonald's the corporation -- it's not true of their franchisees.
Been to Manhattan lately?
Been to Manhattan lately? Theres tons of fast food. Hell, just a few blocks from Penn Station, theres a Mcdonalds with a drivethru and surface parking lot. In Midtown Manhattan!
Fact is, its not a rent thing, its a culture thing. Boston just isnt a fast food city. The BU campus used to have two mcdonalds, two burger kings and a taco bell - only the kenmore mcdonalds is left. Boylston has a mcdonalds and burger king as well a couple blocks away, gone now. Its not really a high rent thing, packards corner isnt exactly home to rents higher than Manhattan.
Same reason Boston doesnt really have all those suburban chains, your applebees and your chillies. Theres an Applebees in times square, highest rents in the continent, and that manages to do ok apparently.
Almost, but not quite
You're not 100% correct here. Sure, you can go to midtown Manhattan (and other high-traffic tourist locales) and see plenty "flagship locations" for fast food chains. Pretty much any huge retail or food company is going to fight tooth and nail to have a shiny storefront there for visibility and brand recognition. However, Midtown is the exception, not the rule. By and large, Manhattan and the rest of the boroughs probably have fewer chains in relation to their number of small businesses than Boston by a long shot. I assume those locations probably operate in the red due to the mind-bogglingly high rent.
The rest of the city is surprisingly devoid of chains and fast casual restaurants. That's not to say they don't exist, but for every shitty Panera Bread or Chili's, there must be at least three delis, small lunch places or quick service restaurant that are non-franchised and locally-owned.
Boston has it's own amazing spots, but the local food culture here is comparatively weak.
Of course, our city doesn't smell like a hot toilet all the time. You win some, you lose some, you know?
The Davis Square location.
It was a two time loser. It had an earlier version that croaked when I lived there in the 80s. It was done in both times by the same skank gaggle that has hovered around Davis since the 70s. I miss Sessas, a bastion of civilization.
Other closures probably correspond to rent squeezes from commercial landlords who misjudge the market. The Central Square Cambridge location is probably doomed for the same reason even though they just blew a lot of money on a makeover.
They have two price tiers. Central Square is jacked up like the North Station and South Station versions. But locations like Twin Cities Mall on the McGrath have lower prices. This lack of price uniformity isn't helping.
And Burger King is undercutting them for their low budget stuff. I got a sausage burrito over at the Maverick Square BK last Sunday morning and it was better and only a buck.
I'm fine with cheap crap fast food. I mainly despise Dunkies and the way they have conned Massholes into thinking it's an institution like the Red Sox. It's great marketing but the product is sub par and they are like an algae bloom in terms of ruthless ubiquity.
Sessa's in Davis Square
is still there, after a fashion. The former owner sold it, and it's now called Pepe Bocca, still an Italian grocery.
I suspect that Burger King on Somerville Ave (across from Target) won't survive the coming of the Green Line and the de-elevation of McGrath Highway.
Giancarlo was unique.
He grew old and wanted to retire but he was the best and each sandwich combined art work with love labor.
Pepe isn't as impressive.
King Burger may retain his throne.
The Union extension is just following the Fitchburg Line bed and it looks like they are putting the station right where you can see the remains of an old commuter rail stop where the Webster Ave bridge is. https://goo.gl/qNgMMq
http://greenlineextension.eot.state.ma.us/documents/about/ProposedMap/pr...
So the big threat would be the McGrath makeover, but I'm willing to bet they won't need to encroach that much as there are a lot of comparably close properties of every description along that alignment and our days of eminent domain bulldozing are probably behind us.
The King might belly up from business loss or other factors like apathy for his fare, though.
I didn't mean an eminent domain taking
Just that these two projects together will probably make that land much too valuable to still be occupied by a drive-through Burger King.
Hard to say.
Land value trends can change or be slow to manifest. I'm aware Curtatone is much more dynamic about advancing growth than the City critters here in Cambridge.
It might be 5 to 10 years out. I generally like how resistant the area is to these value speculation schemes, cause it's another old industrial zone. Who knows what they'll find when they start disturbing stuff?
I saw a an old wharf lot in Eastie this weekend that had construction fencing and a wrap touting the luxury units a 'comin'. But it was faded and weathered so something scotched that deal.
I'm more of an incrementalist than an adherent to grand sweeping notions of growth predictability. It's kind of mechanistic where I try and think like an ecologist.
It's too much other things in our past like Manifest Destiny in a micro version or "Rain Follows The Plow".
Interest rates go up, projects fail, the economy takes a hit or demand calculations turn out to be dumb and there is a lingering inventory overhang. All these hazards nip the manifest destiny ankles.
Davis Square McDonald's
was nearly almost empty whenever I walked by it. Meanwhile, Anna's Taqueria across the street was and still is always busy, with long (but fast-moving) lines. Davis Square folks still like fast food, but their tastes have changed.
McDonalds
Mattapan seems to be gone also.... and that was always crowded
Great bathrooms.
When I first moved to the city, this was the first place in downtown I dared try to use the restroom at without being a patron. It is forever in my heart. Never went in again.
Chinatown McDonald's
Glad it is closing. McDonald's (especially that one) is freaking gross. I used to take Mandarin Chinese lessons around the corner and sometimes I'd eat a Big Mac there when really pressed for time. There were always gnarly junkies lingering around in there hitting people up for money and banging dope in the bathroom. On my list of least favorite places in Boston along with South Bay Plaza and the Finagle a Bagel by Mass General. Yuck!
Ah, Memories!
The last time I went in there I was carrying an armload of a strange woman's laundry. She was in town for some sort of sorority convention. I had went down to Washington and Kneeland to get some pix of the 276; because, after all, an RTS in Chinatown is a rather rare sight. After she tried talking to random people in fractured Mandarin (she didn't realize most of the folks only spoke Cantonese) we split a large order of chicken McNuggets with all the dipping sauces. It was my first time eating them since circa 1997.
In the end she eventually went back to Washington state and the MBTA started assigning Flyer D40s to the Route 276.
But those were some tasty McNuggets.
Figured out long ago that no matter how much I enjoyed it while
eating it, my body always punished me for eating McDonald's about 30 minutes later. Five minutes of enjoyment, nausea and regret for a long time afterward.
I will still occasionally get an order of fries, a shake less often, at a drive-thru when I'm on the road. But I'm glad to have mostly cut this whole category of food from my life. We're lucky to live in a town where getting a cheap burger can be a wholesome experience. My favorite is Flat Patties in Harvard Square.
ah, cheap burgers...
doesn't matter if they are McD's or most of the other chains, gross meat production overuses potable water and arable land. People using their senses to boycott or just simply avoid McD's and demanding better food choices is a good start for health and good for the planet. But regularly consuming beef and pork at another "healthier" burger factory isn't solving the main issues: reducing the burger consumption to once a week is also a good start.
If ya can't be a vegetarian, consider reducitarianism: it might just save us.
my 2c
im gonna eat what i want
the rest of the world be damned
Heart disease!
It's what's for dinner!
everything
Everything in moderation..
I've lost 47lbs since December, and yes I still eat McDonald's once a month.
Exactly
Exactly, and congrats on the huge weight loss.
Food perception versus reality
I eat at Chipotle more than at McDonalds. Nothing against the arches, just how things work out. I will say with certainty that the burrito I get at Chipotle is less healthy for me that the 6 piece McNuggets and a small fries MickeyD's serves me, but the former is seen as "healthier" than the latter.
And as others noted, good job on the weight loss. It's all about portions and whatnot.
Thanks Waquiot and merlinmurph
I eat alot of Chipolte now instead. It's my "work lunch" go to place, since I can get a tasty Taco Salad. (no Rice, no SC tho!)
I've done very little to start this except upping my protein intake, stop eating anything from a box or that is prepared (except frozen veggies), and basically adapt a 'whole foods' diet (no not the grocery store).. just foods that are whole when you cook them (lean cuts of meat, fresh veggies).
Amazing what happens when you cut the crap out. I also make it a point to walk a lot more too, which helps.
Pay the full price, then?
Subsidies and externalities are for wimps!
Mooooo
Actually most of the McMeat comes from dairy cows that have outlived their usefulness. So unless you want to get rid of all milk based products, eating the cows when they're done isn't such a bad thing.
Glad to hear of the closing.
Glad to hear of the closing. Let's hope they open a luxury condo tower there which is so badly needed in this city. We need to speed up the process to force out these disgusting poor people who can only afford $1 for a hamburger. Thank you Mr. Mayor.
Agree that there is a loss and we don't need more luxe condos
Can't be much of a successful business and no one thinks the food is healthful, but it is a place for cheap food and where older folks from the chinatown sit and chat over coffee inside. Maxim Coffee House is a similar hangout but not nearly as big.
Hardly unusual in the neighborhood
There are plenty of such inexpensive places for the older folks to sit and chat in Chinatown -- more than any other neighborhood I know of, in fact.
The chat and hang out thing did it.
That was what killed Davis version 1 in the 80s. Geezers squat for hours nursing a coffee and gradually drive other customers away. There are elder centers and such for that shit.
Once a deadbeat infestation like that takes root, it's only a matter of time before the place shuts down.
Central Square Cambridge posts limits on the time you can spend, and they are reasonable and keeps a security guy inside during biz hours.
I can't understand it. Mickey D's is a pathetic place to hang out. I can't get out of there fast enough once they cough up my order.
Squatting
Ah, but when some self-important millenial squats in a coffee shop with their Mac for hours working on the next big thing after having bought one coffee and a croissant, it's OK.
Got it.
Who knew?
If I run into any self important millenials, I'll let you know. Coffee shops want that and design their spaces for such things with wifi for a fee and so forth but I can't stand them so I don't know.
The 1369 on Cambridge St seems to want malingerers but I liked it better when it was a jazz dive hosting Frank Wright or Henry Threadgill.
https://youtu.be/maQYRm-CPAk
More condos? Give me break
This McDonald's always hired local Asian workers who may not have been able to get a job elsewhere due to language issues. You don't have to eat burgers and fries... the new Wraps were actually pretty good if you got them baked, not fried. Now you want to demo the block and put up million dollar condos and apartments that none of the local people can afford to live in? You must work in the real estate industry and be amongst the most despicable slimebags in Boston these days. Kick out the people who are barely making ends meet, destroy the Chinese community by bringing in the Arab and Russian billionaires who just want to own property and don't even live there. Oh wait, there is no room to build at that corner. The traffic is already so congested their stretch limos could never go anywhere. And look what happened to the shitty condos that were built where the most popular eatery in Chinatown used to be. It was destroyed so people could live over a live poultry slaughter shop: No one bought the damn things. And despite the promises that a new Chinatown Eatery would be built..... it's been what, 10 years or so and nothing ever materialized. So go shove your We need more condo shit where the sun don't shine and buy a place in Seaport.... it will only cost you a few million dollars.
Yikes
I remember when this first replaced the theater.
I'm old.
The one on Mass ave near
The one on Mass ave near berklee music school closed too, they put up a new berklee building. The fenway one closed years ago, as did the one on causeway street, and the one near city hall (which is now a bank I believe)
My reply
It would be nice if you solicited reaction from Chinese-Americans who live or work in the area versus European-American commuters or tourists. Was this place even important to them ? Or just a novelty for McDonald's to show off?