The Drive-Thru: CEOs reveal how COVID-19 is changing business, inside the pandemic at McDonald's, and Amazon opens 'dark' Whole Foods
Happy Friday!
This week, BI Retail took a step back to figure out exactly how the coronavirus pandemic has transformed the companies we cover. That meant listening to everyone from CEOs to hourly workers to see what they saw happening right now, and what might come next.
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CEOs reveal how business is changing.
This week, BI launched its "What's Next" package, in which we talked to more than 200 CEOs about how the coronavirus is going to change their company, industry, and the world. I spoke with Momofuku CEO Marguerite Mariscal about how the restaurant industry will be forced to evolve due to the pandemic. Mariscal told me:
"The last month has shone a light on some of the industry's practices that were previously barely tenable in the first place. We are hopefully going to see a reform that will better position restaurants, even after there's a vaccine. The worst thing a restaurant can do is go back to 'normal.'"
Bethany talked with meal kit CEOs about how their companies are thriving during the pandemic. Andy Levitt, CEO of the plant-based meal kit company Purple Carrot, said:
"Meal kits were starting to fall out of favor and were less en vogue because of the rise of services like Instacart and Doordash. Meal kits have had a massive comeback in the last two months. Now we'll see how we can sustain that as things begin to normalize, if and when they do."
Of course, we also talked to non-food-centric retail CEOs. (I was hungry when I was writing this newsletter.) AirBnb CEO Brian Chesky told Madeline:
"We used to do a lot of travel for work, and then we entertained ourselves on screens. That's going to inverse. I think we'll work more on screens and entertain ourselves in the real world."
Here's what Chesky and CEOs at Walmart, ThirdLove, and other retailers have to say about the future of their companies and the industry.
Read the full project — with more than 200 CEOs — here.
How the pandemic is changing McDonald's workers' lives.
I've been hearing from McDonald's employees about what it is like working at the chain during the pandemic over the last few months. At the same time, I've seen more news than ever before about workers' protests as part of the SEIU-backed Fight for 15 movement.
I pieced together what has been going down inside McDonald's, from worker unrest to tension with franchisees to new corporate policies.
McDonald's has already made major changes, including adding two weeks of paid sick leave for COVID-related cases and raising workers' pay. This week, news broke that McDonald's is beginning to allow franchisees to reopen stores, as well as offering additional financial support for marketing.
Read this story to understand what might permanently change for McDonald's workers.
Amazon is converting more Whole Foods locations into "dark stores."
Hayley reports that more Whole Foods are being transformed into stores that exclusively fulfill online-only orders. A Chicago "dark store" that opened this week is the sixth Whole Foods location to shift to the format.
It is easier for dark stores to rapidly fill online orders since the grocery staff does not have to work cash registers or help customers. It also helps address workers' worries about catching the coronavirus from customers.
"By shifting to a 'dark' format, stores reduce the number of people entering the store, and therefore reduce overall exposures to employees," Hayley writes. "Stores can also more easily enforce uniform safety standards, such as the usage of masks and gloves, among the people allowed inside."
Everything else you need to know
- Hayley's scoop lead Democratic senators to demand answers from Whole Foods CEO John Mackey about how the grocer tracks its workers to prevent unionizing.
- At least 4,500 Tyson workers have caught COVID-19, with 18 deaths. Now, the company is incentivizing its truck drivers with a $1,000 bonus.
- COVID-19 surcharges spark backlash, forcing restaurants to respond by raising prices instead.
- An avalanche of retail bankruptcies on the horizon may bury the overloaded bankruptcy court system.
- Steak n' Shake is permanently closing 51 restaurants.
- Chick-fil-A is now the third-largest restaurant chain in America!
- Elon Musk tweeted a food blogger's 2017 photo from Buca di Beppo, saying 'life should be lived'.
That's it for this week, folks. Click here to subscribe to The Drive-Thru if you have not already!