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 McDonald's is one of the leading fast food chains in the world. There are more than 35,000 McDonalds outlets running all over the world in 129 different countries. Well, surely it has gained huge success but there are some prominent countries that have said no to McDonald's because of various specific reasons. Here, in this article, you'll get to know which countries are these, and why have they shut their doors for McDonald's!
Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran was the first Islamic and Middle Eastern state where McDonald's paved its way. But after the dynamic outburst of Islamic Revolution in the year 1979, McDonald's and all such foreign franchises were shut down permanently. To be very specific, there was a particular wave of negativity against American franchises and companies, and since then McDonald's has failed to reopen its outlet in Iran. Shyly, McDonald's tried to open its outlet in Tehran back in the year 1994, but with such a massive anti-American attack on it's under construction building, all hopes of reopening any branch in Iran were demolished completely. And now, McDonald's has no plan to try opening any branch in Iran in the near future.
Bermuda
McDonald's opened its first store in Bermuda on November 10th of 1985. This store was located on the US Naval Air Station at the St. George's Parish. According to the Government law franchised restaurants are completely banning to work in this British Overseas territory, but technically marginalizing, this McDonald's store was located on the American soil, thus it remained functioning till March 9th of 1995. The closure of McDonald's business in Bermuda happen because of the closing of this Naval Base this year. And since then, McDonald's or any such franchise cannot open in this Caribbean country because of Prohibited Restaurants Act 1977 of the constitution.
Bolivia
After a short span of running its business in Bolivia, McDonald's shut all its franchises due to the enormous decline in the sales. The first branch of McDonald's in Bolivia was opened on 24th of October, 1997 and the business was wrapped up completely on 30th of September, 2002. The main reason for the declining trend in the sales was lost of trust among the Bolivians from this brand. Though burgers are considered to be highly appreciated meal among the Bolivian youth, due to unhygienic and unhealthy conditions portrayed by McDonald's, Bolivians lost their appetite for this particular brand. Evo Morales, former president of Bolivia said, “[McDonald's is] not interested in the health of human beings, only in earnings and corporate profits.” Whatsoever the reason there be, McDonald's is trying to re-enter in the Bolivian market.
Jamaica
McDonald's started operating in this beautiful Caribbean country back in April of 1995, but with unfortunate decline in the sales, all the branches were closed after 10 years, in October of 2005. McDonald's closed its doors for the Jamaicans because of extremely short taste palette of the Jamaicans for the acceptability of different types of burgers. Additionally, McDonald's dwelled into a legal fight against a local food giant in Jamaica, As the local food vendors were concerned about the growth of their own business. The legal advisor of Jamaican food chain claimed that "When large multi-national operations enter new territory, they have to give due regard to the rights of local businesses which have spent years building up a successful concern," and thus had to move away from the Jamaican market.
Barbados
McDonald's operated only a single outlet in Barbados, that was opened in 1996 and quickly after only 6 months of running it got closed. The major reason behind the closure of McDonald's was the preference of local food brands over International food franchise. In addition to people's choice, McDonald's was given a hard time by the Government of Barbados. Eventually, McDonald's closed there within a few months of the venture.
Iceland
Back in 1993, McDonald's started its food chain in the beautiful country of Iceland. The restaurants flourished exponentially, as Icelanders preferred eating hamburgers. With the passage of time, the brand started feeling economic pressure, the decline in the sale, and loss of profit. The owners of the food chain said that the cost of bringing in the raw material and then preparing the meal increased and it became extremely difficult for them to maintain the customer's acceptable rate of the products. The cost of importing raw material and the collapse of Iceland Krona became the main reason of complete shut down of McDonald's from Iceland in 2009. Three outlets renamed and started working with the name of Metro restaurants, serving a similar type of fast food.
Montenegro
This Eastern European country welcomed McDonald's for only 3 years, from 2004 to 2007. McDonald's opened at the beautiful sight of Budva. Later on, Government banned opening of any such franchise in light of saying no to globalization. Thus all such fast food chains closed their business from the capital city of Montenegro. Recently, change in the Government policies has been observed, as this statement “no company, not even McDonald’s, is forbidden to do business in Montenegro” came into light. But there is no news of McDonald's openings in the country yet.
Macedonia
This beautiful Eastern European country once had 7 McDonalds restaurants running all over the place, mostly in the capital city of Skopje. The first outlet of McDonald's was opened there in 1997. And the company closed in 2013, because of the termination of license validity of the franchise owners. The Macedonian franchise owner Sveto Janevski remained failed to keep the franchises open in the country because of termination of the contract with the European Head office. And there doesn't seem any chances of reopening of Macedonian McDonalds any soon.
There you have it. These are some of the prominent countries that have said no to McDonald's or where McDonald's has closed its business due to any financial reason. Let us know down below, what is the best place to eat fast food in your country!
By Amna A. for Ezega Blogs
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