Not even New York City is big enough for two flagship McDonald’s.
The Chicago-based burger giant is closing its iconic location on West 42nd in New York’s Times Square.
In reality, the location has been on the chopping block for some time. McDonald’s last year opened a new, giant flagship just a couple of blocks away, on 45th and Broadway, one that can be seen for some distance thanks to its 9,280-square-foot billboard.
That location made the old flagship obsolete. “McDonald’s reviews its restaurant portfolio on a regular basis to make the best decisions for our business moving forward,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Closing the 42nd Times Square restaurant was a difficult decision, but we look forward to continuing to serve our customers at the flagship McDonald’s on 45th and Broadway and in the neighboring communities.”
Still, the decision removes one of the chain’s most famous locations from its roster of just less than 14,000 U.S. restaurants, and one that has been through the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the Great Recession.
The location has historically been a testing ground for new ideas for McDonald’s. It has been known for its brightly lit marquee, which fit well with the brightly lit theater and restaurant signs in the tourist destination. But apparently not quite as much as a giant billboard.
McDonald’s now-former franchisee in the city, Jim Lewis, told numerous stories of operating that particular restaurant earlier this year on an episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive.”
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