McDonald's France, colloquially called McDo,[2] is the French subsidiary of the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. Its first location opened in 1972 by franchisee Raymond Dayan in Creteil, France, although the company itself still recognizes the first outlet as opening in Strasbourg in 1979.[3] McDonald's France currently has over 1,485 restaurants operating nationwide, serving an estimated forty-six million people each week.
McDonald's French operations are based in Guyancourt, Yvelines.
History
According to McDonald's official history, the chain created its first restaurant in France in 1979. However, in reality, the first "McDo" in France opened its doors on June 30, 1972, in Créteil, a suburb of Paris, thanks to the initiative of French businessman Raymond Dayan, who had signed a franchise agreement with the company. Since McDonald's didn't believe that the hamburger would be successful in the country of gastronomy, the contract authorized the Frenchman to create up to 150 restaurants over thirty years for a royalty of only 1.5% of the turnover instead of the usual 10 to 20%.[4]