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| Perry McKenna |
Working at McDonald's is generally considered decent part-time work during school. But, after graduation, students usually quit to find a "real" job.
Perry McKenna had that mentality when he started with the fast food giant but, 28 years later, he owns three McDonald's outlets and has never looked back.
Born and raised in Ottawa, McKenna began working for McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited in 1975. He started part-time during high school, then, in 1978, agreed to work full-time as an assistant manager.
( Tell us about your most memorable, or reviled part-time job. Click the link to respond to a discussion board topic, "Fries with that?" http://discussion.ottawabusinessjournal.com/article.php?sid=136 )
After graduating from university with a business degree, McKenna continued to be promoted within the McDonald's corporation for another decade. He moved from one Ottawa location to another as restaurant manager, eventually becoming an area supervisor.
In 1984, the managing director for McDonald's France came to Ottawa looking for recruits to establish the franchise in that country. McKenna was intrigued and asked his supervisors if he could go. He was denied.
Not to be deterred, McKenna asked every year from 1985 to 1989 if he could go to France. Each year he was turned down for not having enough experience.
"I never gave up on the idea and, at the end of 1989, my boss came to me and said, 'Are you still interested in France?'" McKenna recalls. "I moved in January of 1990 and stayed there until May of 1994."
McKenna's job was as a business consultant, helping various McDonald franchisees throughout La Provence set up their operations. Eventually, he was promoted to operations manager for the Paris region, where he oversaw what was, at the time, the second busiest McDonald's in the world on the famed Champs Elysees.
"It was quite an experience. We had a staff of 300 to 400 (depending on high and low season) and a typical McDonald's has about 100," he says.
The four years he spent in France were "a phenomenal experience," he says, although he was unsure at first how well the French, known for haute cuisine, would take to the McDonald's concept.
"(France) was one of the most successful countries in the world (for McDonald's)," says McKenna. "They loved the quality standards we had and we were affordable compared to the average café or traditional French restaurant."
From day one, McDonald's went non-smoking in France and McKenna attributes a lot of the company's success in the country to the strategy.
"We offered a place for families to have a meal with their kids in a smoke-free environment. That was a big hit."
In 1994, McDonald's France offered McKenna a five-year extension. To McKenna, the choice became to permanently settle in France or return to Ottawa.
Along with his wife and two children, he chose to return home and become the operations manager for Ottawa-Gatineau.
Two years later, McDonald's offered McKenna the opportunity to buy a franchise in Stittsville. He took it.
"(My wife and I) knew that Stittsville had a very good growth opportunity and it's a beautiful community, so we moved here."
Today, McKenna owns two other locations in Kanata.
And sales have been strong. Despite reports McDonald's Corporation has not been performing well, he says the new lighter choice menu appeals to customers.
"In the last two years, we've noted quite a strong rebound. The lighter menu has brought back sales big time."
McKenna says Ottawa is a very competitive market for restaurants. To hold his own, he concentrates on one simple task: "(We) take care of our customers one customer at a time. It sounds cliché, but it works."
In 2002, McKenna's Stittsville location won Outstanding Restaurant from McDonald's Canada and was named Stittsville Business of the Year.
INTERESTED IN OPENING A MCDONALD'S?
Depending on the size of the restaurant, the cost to a franchisee of all items and personal expenses for a new location is $600,000 to $800,000, including the initial franchise fee of $45,000.
- by Ellen Tsaprailis
