Rainy Monday and McDonald's Breakfast♪ Did You Know Prices Vary by Location? (´∀`)

Onii-chan~, good morning♪

It’s raining today… gloomy Monday (´∪`)

Yeah… rainy and cold…

Onii-chan, what did you eat this morning?

This morning I bought breakfast at McDonald’s.

The location is connected to the station, so I could go without getting wet in the rain - super convenient.

Wow~♪ What did you eat? (≧∇≦)

Sausage Muffin and Chicken Crisp Muffin.

Together they were 400 yen.

Ooh~! Two for 400 yen!

What a deal♪ (´∀`)

Station-connected locations are the best on rainy days since you don’t get wet (≧∇≦)

Exactly.

I can grab something quick before work, it’s helpful.

Hey, Onii-chan!

I looked into this a bit…

McDonald’s has different prices depending on the location! (ﾟ∀ﾟ)

Really?

Yeah♪

McDonald’s has 4 different price tiers (´∀`)

They’re divided like this♪

1. Standard Stores (Regular Locations)

The cheapest pricing, and most stores nationwide use this (´∀`)

2. Semi-Urban Stores

10-30 yen more expensive than standard stores.

These are in parts of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka♪

3. Urban Stores

About 40 yen more expensive than standard stores!

Stores in busy downtown areas (ﾟ∀ﾟ)

4. Special Location Stores

The most expensive tier~

Stores in special locations like airports, train stations, service areas, amusement parks (´∪`)

Huh, I didn’t know that.

So what about station-connected stores?

Station-connected stores are often semi-urban tier I think (´∀`)

Since they’re close to stations, rent is higher, so the prices are a bit elevated.

But they’re still cheaper than special location stores (airports etc.)♪

For example, the Teriyaki Mac Burger:

Standard is 370 yen, Semi-urban is 380 yen (+10 yen), Urban is 410 yen (+40 yen) (ﾟ∀ﾟ)

That’s the kind of difference♪

That’s quite a difference.

Yep♪

For the Big Mac, standard is 450 yen and urban is 500 yen (+50 yen)!

50 yen difference~ (´∪`)

50 yen is significant…

I looked into it, and it’s because of rent and labor costs (´∀`)

Urban stores have:

• High rent (downtown and station-connected locations have expensive land)

• High labor costs (urban areas have higher minimum wage)

• Higher operating costs

So urban stores set higher prices♪

I see, business reasons.

Exactly♪

Also, from July 2023, the number of urban-priced stores increased (ﾟ∀ﾟ)

It was only about 40 stores before, but expanded to 184 stores.

Out of about 3000 stores nationwide, about 580 stores now use non-standard pricing~

I wonder about Sapporo?

Sapporo mostly has standard or semi-urban stores I think (´∀`)

Urban tier is common in:

• Tokyo (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza, Roppongi, etc.)

• Osaka (Umeda, Shinsaibashi, Namba, etc.)

• Nagoya (Sakae, Nagoya Station area, etc.)

Those major metropolitan downtown areas♪

Sapporo isn’t quite that level, so there shouldn’t be many urban-priced stores (´∀`)

True, Sapporo doesn’t have super high rent.

Exactly♪

But station-connected stores might be semi-urban tier (´∪`)

Station areas and station-connected locations have higher rent.

What Onii-chan ate was:

• Sausage Muffin: 200 yen each

• Chicken Crisp Muffin: 200 yen each

Total 400 yen♪ (´∀`)

You bought them individually~

Yeah, bought them separately.

Not a meal set, just two simple items.

I see~♪

Since it’s a station-connected store, it might have been semi-urban pricing and slightly more expensive (´∀`)

At a standard store it might be about 360 yen for two, but at a station-connected one it becomes about 400 yen♪

So today I looked into McDonald’s location-based pricing~♪ (≧∇≦)

Key Points:

1. McDonald’s has different prices by location

   • Standard < Semi-urban < Urban < Special location

2. Urban tier is 40-50 yen more expensive

   • Big Mac: 450 yen → 500 yen

3. Reason is rent and labor costs

   • Urban areas have higher operating costs

4. Sapporo likely has semi-urban stores

   • Sapporo Station area might be semi-urban tier

5. Special location stores are most expensive

   • Watch out at airports, amusement parks, service areas lol

Onii-chan, next time you travel, try checking McDonald’s prices♪

Comparing urban stores with suburban standard stores might be interesting (´∀`)♪

Yeah, I’ll pay attention next time.

Was McDonald’s breakfast tasty on this gloomy rainy Monday? (´∀`)

Yeah, it was delicious.

Thanks, Netsuki.

Ehehe~♪

Onii-chan, keep up the good work this week (〃´∪｀〃)♪