The departure is not forced but occurs during an investigation, state officials say
Erin Jordan
August 12, 2021 9:30 p.m., Update: August 13, 2021 9:50 a.m.
The administrative building of the Boys State Training School is presented in 2017 in Eldora. (Liz Martin / The Gazette)
The principal of Boys State Training School in Eldora resigned last week as part of an investigation at the school.
Wendy Leiker, who was appointed to the post on August 28, 2020, was not asked to resign, but “offered her resignation during an investigation,” the spokesperson for the social services department said. of Iowa Matt Highland in a statement Thursday.
“While we are limited in the information we can share, we want to make it clear that his departure is not due to a concern for student safety,” Highland said. “DHS remains committed to the success of BSTS and the essential work of building services in accordance with the recovery plan. “
DHS director Kelly Garcia said in a meeting Thursday that she had appointed Jason Sodders, an assistant to Leiker, as the acting superintendent of the boarding school for delinquent boys aged 12 to 18.
Garcia told the Iowa Council on Human Services she couldn’t share many details about the investigation, but said Leiker’s departure had nothing to do with the reforms the school was required to make. do after losing a federal class action lawsuit in 2017 in which former students alleged abuse. .
In February, a court-appointed monitor said the school was making good progress on a 25-point catch-up plan.
Garcia said Leiker’s resignation was also unrelated to a “spike in campus violence,” but did not clarify.
The Des Moines Register reported last month that there had been an increase in assaults on students and staff as the school tried to move away from harsh discipline.
Garcia said she and other staff members visited the school this week to speak with staff and students.
“It was not on the regular schedule when we are normally there because we know that any change at the top is unsettling for our team members who want to make sure they feel supported during this time of year. transition, ”she said.
What happened with Lou Pearlman? Lou Pearlman was a renowned American record producer. He was the originator of most of the 1990s boy groups like Backstreet Boys, but marred his successful career when it was discovered he was leading one of the biggest and most extensive Ponzi schemes of the world. the history of the United States.
Lou Perlman during Otown. Photo: Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic, Inc Source: Getty Images
How did he make and break big boy bands with rogue deals? Louis Pearlman will be remembered both for the bad and the good, but especially for the bad. Here is everything there is to know about his life, including his criminal offenses.
Lou Pearlman’s Profile Summary
Last name and first name: Louis Jay Pearlman
Other names: Big Poppa, Incognito Johnson
Date of Birth: June 19, 1954
Place of birth: Flushing, New York, United States
Zodiac sign: Gemini
Parents: Hy Pearlman and Reenie Pearlman
Brothers and sisters: 0
Cousin: Art Garfunkel
Nationality: American
Religion: High Jew
Schools attended: Queens College
Occupation: Record producer, manager, author, entrepreneur, trusted artist, impresario
active: From 1993 to 2006
Books: Groups, Brands and Billions: My Top 10 Rules for Turning Any Business Platinum
Jeremy Maggs: age, girl, woman, career, book, resignation, profile
Lou Pearlman biography
American record producer and manager Lou Pearlman poses for a portrait circa 2002 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Ron Davis / Getty Images Source: Getty Images
Big Poppa was born and raised in New York City in the Mitchell Gardens apartments across from Flushing Airport. He was the only child of his parents. Her father operated a dry cleaning business while her mother was a coffee helper at school.
The rise and fall of Lou Pearlman
Big Poppa led a group as a teenager, but then focused on aviation. At the end of the 1970s, he launched a business based on his college project, with 1 helicopter. He learned more about airships from German businessman Theodor Wüllenkemper.
Lou started Airship Enterprises Ltd, which leased an airship from Jordache before owning one. From the funds raised, Big Poppa built an airship, which unfortunately crashed. This led to Pearlman winning $ 2.5 million in damages.
Big Poppa founded Airship International using the settlement money. He took the public company to raise $ 3 million for an airship. He falsely claimed a partnership with Wüllenkemper and leased the airship from McDonald’s.
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In July 1991, Lou moved Airship International to Orlando, Florida, signing MetLife and SeaWorld as clients. However, one of the clients left and three planes crashed, causing the shares to drop by $ 6 each (he had paid commissions to record a steady rise in stock prices while the company had little revenue) to 3. cents per share.
Lou Pearlman’s groups
Following the achievements of New Kids on the Block, Incognito Johnson launched Trans Continental Records to emulate their boy band business model. The label signed Backstreet Boys from a $ 3 million talent search as a lead band.
Lou Pearlman and Britney Spears
Other groups associated with Pearlman include NSYNC, O-Town, Lou Pearlman LFO, Take 5, Natural, US5. Some of Lou Pearlman’s famous girl groups, which he co-managed with Justin Timberlake’s mom. Britney Spears was a short-term member of Innosense.
Besides the label, Lou owned a large entertainment complex in Orlando, which housed the Trans Continental and O-Town studios. Additionally, in 2002 Lou bought Options Talent Group, which became a photo factory scam.
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In 2006, it was revealed that Lou was the prime contractor for the longest-running Ponzi scheme in American history. He had defrauded investors of over $ 1 billion by tricking people and banks into investing in his shell businesses that only existed on paper before the success of the boy bands, namely Trans Continental Airlines Inc., TransCon Records and Continental International Inc. When the groups were successful, he transformed them and their fame into a platform to further expand his Ponzi scheme.
He had used forged documents from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, AIG and Lloyd’s of London to lure people into his employee investment savings account program.
What happened to Lou Pearlman?
Lou Pearlman arrives at the George C. Young Federal Courthouse in downtown Orlando, Florida on Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Photo: Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images Source: Getty Images
On June 14, 2007, Lou was arrested in Indonesia after fleeing from officials. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 27, 2007 and has been charged with 3 counts of bank fraud, 1 count of mail fraud and 1 of wire fraud.
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On May 21, 2008, during bankruptcy proceedings, Judge G. Kendall Sharp sentenced Lou to 25 years in prison (to be released on March 24, 2029) for money laundering, conspiracy and misrepresentation.
How did Lou Pearlman die?
In 2010, Incognito Johnson suffered a stroke in prison, which resulted in a line infection of the heart valve diagnosis. He underwent surgery to replace the heart valve but died on August 19, 2016, before another operation.
Lou Pearlman’s cause of death is recorded as cardiac arrest. Lou Pearlman’s funeral took place ten days later on August 29, 2016. Where is Lou Pearlman now? He rests in the family burial place in the New Montefiore cemetery.
Lou Pearlman poses with boy band O-Town, Jacob Underwood, Ashley Parker Angel, Erik Estrada, Trevor Penick and Dan Miller seen in New York, circa 2001. Photo: Mark Weiss / WireImage Source: Getty Images
Lou Pearlman’s documentary
You can get more details about Big Poppa in the documentary, The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story. This is a 1h 39m film directed by Aaron Kunkel and released on March 13, 2019. It explores Lou’s profession and heritage.
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Lou Pearlman’s Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Incognito Johnson’s peak net worth was $ 300 million. Where was Lou Pearlman’s house? Lou Pearlman’s home was in Windermere, Florida. The waterfront mansion was a 12,000 square foot estate, including a separate guesthouse and office space. It was once offered at an auction for $ 3.75 million in 2008, but a trustee deemed the offer too low.
Lou Pearlman left over $ 300 million in debt. Although he did not serve his sentence, he paid for his crimes. His life is a lesson that you get served what you deserve; therefore, find honest ways to make a living to enjoy the success that comes with it.
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Briefly.co.za posted some interesting details about Ruja Ignatova.
Ruja was one of the biggest crooks in history, the mastermind of OneCoin’s Ponzi scheme, the cryptocurrency-based fraudulent investment scheme that has attracted many investors. Read on to find out if the Bulgarian fraudster is in jail.
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A brothel that rose to fame after being featured in a nationwide TV documentary was abandoned and left to rot after its employees lifted sticks and moved elsewhere.
Stained mattresses, used condoms and a price list were among the items found in the dingy place.
City Sauna in Sheffield was the venue for A Very British Bordel, which aired on Channel 4 in 2015, as well as the follow-up A Very Yorkshire Brothel, which aired in 2019 on ITV.
The company was operating out of a converted pub in an area known as the city’s “Golden Sex Mile”, promoting itself as a “massage parlor”.
But when he then moved further down the road, the filthy place was abandoned and dusted.
The brothel has been left in a filthy state of disrepair since its employees moved to a new location (Image: Lost places and forgotten faces)
The disgusting abandoned places were filmed by urban explorer Lost Places & Forgotten Faces.
He told YorkshireLive: “I quickly got a feel for what was going on here, with old condoms in the showers, stained mattresses – this place was as crappy as it gets.
“One of the rooms had a very peculiar smell that must have lingered for years. A sort of mixture of urine and sweat.”
Discarded pregnancy test was among the trash left in abandoned brothel (Image: Lost places and forgotten faces)
Images include a ‘bad boys room’ as well as mundane items including a shopping list and a stash of HP sauce.
A Very British Bordel presented the daily operation of the “sauna”, which was run by a mother and daughter, Cath and Jenny.
It gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at every aspect of the business, from how they established the daily rotations, to the unusual customers and weird requests they had.
The abandoned sauna inside the old abandoned brothel (Image: Lost places and forgotten faces)
Some men who have used City Sauna just came over for tea and a chat, while others – including Food Man – had bizarre requests.
The brothel even held a Christmas raffle, with everyone who entered receiving a thin pie.
The City Sauna photos are just the latest shots to reveal the social history that is often right under our noses.
Sheffield City Sauna has now moved further down the road (Image: Lost places and forgotten faces)
Kyle Urbex, a YouTuber who travels the country documenting abandoned buildings, recently posted pictures he took of an abandoned house frozen in time and full of horse trinkets.
Another urban explorer, Adam Mark Explores, took his YouTube subscribers to visit a spooky abandoned house in the Scottish Highlands. He found a mummified cat among ancient dolls and newspapers dating back decades.
Adam said that “the house was dark and had an eerie silence, which got me on edge throughout this exploration.”
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And last year, Bearded Reality urban explorer Daniel Sims discovered a secret “sh * g pad” hidden inside an old asylum.
Discarded mattresses and clothes were found in the abandoned asylum at Storthes Hall in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, which closed 30 years ago.
He admitted to being frightened by the noises in the building while he was filming.
City Sauna in Sheffield was the location used for A Very British Bordel, which aired on Channel 4 in 2015, but now it is dormant and is in terrible shape
(
Image: Lost places and forgotten faces)
An urban explorer has found a “naughty boy’s room” and a bottle of HP sauce inside an abandoned brothel – which recently featured on a Channel 4 TV show.
City Sauna in Sheffield was the location used for A Very British Brother, as reported by Yorkshire Live, but it has since been discontinued and it now looks a bit worse in wear.
Inside, the explorer found stained mattresses, used condoms and a price list, and photos from the trip were shared on the Lost Places & Forgotten Faces Facebook page.
The brothel had operated out of the converted pub in an area known as the city’s “Golden Sex Mile”, billing itself as a “massage parlor”, but they moved to new premises and that place took over. dust.
The house is very run down, with almost nothing still intact (
Picture:
Lost places and forgotten faces)
A list of those who had been paid was still on the wall (
Picture:
Lost places and forgotten faces)
What do you think of the discovery of the explorer? Let us know in the comments
The explorer said: “I quickly got a feel for what was going on here, with old condoms in the showers, stained mattresses – this place was as shabby as it gets.
“One of the rooms had a very peculiar smell that must have lingered for years. A sort of mixture of urine and sweat.”
Images include a ‘bad boys room’ as well as mundane items including a shopping list and a stash of HP sauce.
A Very British Bordel presented the daily operation of the “sauna”, which was run by a mother and daughter, Cath and Jenny.
It gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at every aspect of the business, from how they established the daily rotations, to the unusual customers and weird requests they had.
For more news that interests you, straight to your inbox, sign up for one of our daily newsletters here.
Some men who have used City Sauna just came over for tea and a chat, while others – including Food Man – had bizarre requests.
The brothel even held a Christmas raffle, with everyone who entered receiving a thin pie.
The City Sauna photos are just the latest shots to reveal the social history that is often right under our noses.
Do you have a story to share? We would like to know all about it. Contact us via [email protected]
When you think of boy groups, you probably remember the 1990s. However, all-male groups have been around since the 1960s.
Many consider The Beatles to be the first boy group, and the success of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo starr and George Harrison led to the creation of The Monkees, The Osmonds, The Jackson 5 and many other bands in the 60s and 70s. By the time the 80s started, fans discovered Menudo and New Kids on the Block , but the next decade arguably changed the game forever.
In the 90s, NKOTB continued to take off but eventually withdrew as more pop oriented groups began to dominate the market. The Backstreet Boys became household names in 1996, followed by ‘NSync in 1998 and LFO in 1999.
Although they have been compared throughout their careers, Joey fatone exclusively told Us weekly in January 2019, that ‘NSync had not had any issues with Backstreet Boys.
“There was never a rivalry, but it was always like, ‘Damn, they have to do this. Dude, I wanna do this, ”he recalls. “I mean, ‘I want it like this’ is a jam. I don’t mind saying it.
Fatone has revealed that “Bye Bye Bye”, however, is superior to “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” when it comes to the battle of iconic boy band dance routines. “The ‘Bye Bye Bye’ dance, definitely, because everyone only knows one thing about ‘Everybody’, and everyone knows at least the whole neck thing,” he said. We. “So I would honestly say ‘Bye Bye Bye’ – not because I was in the song – because obviously if it was ‘Everyone’ I’d be giving props, but that’s not the case. “
Following the success of ‘NSync and the Backstreet Boys, there was a resurgence of boy groups in the early 2010s when One Direction, The Wanted and others emerged. Around the same time, New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys briefly joined forces to form supergroup NKOTBSB, which released a compilation album and toured North America, Europe, Asia and in Australia. Boy groups have also become incredibly popular in Asia, where groups such as BTS and EXO have amassed huge fan bases.
To this day, the Backstreet Boys remain the most popular boy group of all time in terms of sales. One Direction also broke numerous records during their six-year run, which ended in 2016 as Harry Styles, Niall horan, Louis tomlinson and Liam Payne went solo (Zayn Malik had already left the group a year earlier).
While streaming hits like “Bye Bye Bye,” “What Makes You Beautiful” and “I Want It That Way,” scroll through the gallery below for more on the 22 Greatest Boy Groups of All Time. !
KOHAT: Locals have called on provincial education minister Shahram Khan Tarakai to save their children’s future by ordering the construction of the required classrooms in the only boys’ high school in Laal Garhi region here.
In a joint statement on Sunday, former Nazim Etebar Khan, chairman of the Kohat Peace Council, Shah Mehmood, and others said no new high schools had been allowed in the area to accommodate the growing number of children.
They questioned the government’s urgency for education when a high school in their area did not even have the classrooms needed for students.
They lamented that when they took their children to school, the staff refused them admission due to lack of space.
Meanwhile, a feud between tehsil city administration and the irrigation department over who should clean up a clogged drain in the university town has become a permanent nuisance for local residents.
Recent monsoon rains have flooded the entire area, including homes and the main road due to the blocked drain.
When contacted, Fazal Kareem Khattak, an irrigation department manager, told Dawn that they had built the drain and it was now TMA’s responsibility to keep it free of garbage and silt.
Naeem Kohati, a social worker, said dirty water entered homes because of the clogged drain after the recent rain. He said the main road, which connected 13 streets, was also inundated with sewage, making it difficult for residents to get out of their homes. He asked Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Roshan to order the drain to be cleaned.
In addition, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on Kashmir, MP Shehryar Afridi, the DIG division Kohat Zafar Ali and officials from the forestry department launched a campaign to plant monsoon trees on Sunday.
The MP kicked off the campaign by planting a sapling on the premises of Kohat University of Science and Technology.
Speaking on the occasion, he urged students to take responsibility for passing on a healthy environment to future generations. He also asked students to play a role in preventing the ruthless logging of forests.
DIG Zafar Ali started the campaign by planting a sapling on the lawns of the Kohat Police Club.
Officials from the forestry department launched the campaign from Kohat Technical College.
A McDonald’s sign is displayed in Philadelphia on Monday, April 26, 2021. McDonald’s posted better-than-expected sales in the second quarter as dining rooms reopened and new products like the Crispy Chicken Sandwich attracted customers. Revenue jumped 57% to nearly $ 5.9 billion in the April-June period. That topped Wall Street’s forecast by $ 5.6 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet. (AP Photo / Matt Rourke)
McDonald’s posted better-than-expected sales in the second quarter as dining rooms reopened and new chicken sandwiches generated customer traffic.
Revenue jumped 57% to nearly $ 5.9 billion in the April-June period. That topped Wall Street’s forecast by $ 5.6 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Global comparable store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, increased 40.5% from the same period a year ago. It was an easy comparison; the second quarter of 2020 was the low point of the pandemic for McDonald’s, when closures closed stores and sales plunged 30%.
But even compared to 2019, a year before the pandemic hit the United States, same-store sales were 7% higher.
The reopening of dining rooms around the world has brought McDonald’s closer to what would be considered normal before the pandemic. The UK reopened dining halls in May, while France and Germany reopened them in June, McDonald’s said. In the United States, 70% of dining rooms are now open, and the company expects all to be open by Labor Day, barring a resurgence of the coronavirus.
“When the markets reopen, customer demand returns quickly”, CFO Kevin Ozan said on a conference call with investors on Wednesday.
There were still a few hiccups, such as a resurgence of COVID that limited operations at restaurants in southern China.
There has also been a resurgence of infections in parts of the United States, especially in places where more people are reluctant to get vaccinated.
New menu items, like the Crispy Chicken Sandwich in the US and McSpicy in Australia and the UK, boosted sales. A worldwide meal promotion with South Korean pop group BTS – the latest in a series that also included a meal from rapper Travis Scott – was also a huge success. CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company plans more celebrity ties, but also new ways to generate buzz around the brand.
“My challenge for our marketing team here at McDonald’s is what’s the next big idea? “ he said.
The company also increased prices 6% from a year ago to offset rising food and labor costs, which also boosted sales.
Attracting workers has been a challenge emerging from the pandemic in the United States as well as in Europe, where border restrictions have limited the supply of workers, Kempczinski said.
Like other national chains, McDonald’s has increased wages to attract workers. In May, McDonald’s announced that it would increase wages at its 650 U.S. stores to $ 15 an hour by 2024. Including franchise stores, McDonald’s wages have increased 5% this year, Kempczinski said. .
The company is seeing a growing number of job applications in the United States, especially in states like Florida and Missouri which ended improved unemployment benefits in June, Kempckinsi said. In other states, these benefits end in September.
“I think there is evidence that as the federal stimulus package rolls out you will see an improvement in the demand rate,” he said. Kempczinski said.
Because it was so hard to find enough workers, the average ordering time took an extra 3 seconds, Kempczinski said, but he thinks it is a short-term problem. The company has actually improved uptime by 30 seconds over the past few years.
“The gains have been too hard” Kempczinski said.
The Chicago burger giant made a second quarter net profit of $ 2.2 billion. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $ 2.37 per share. It was well above the $ 2.11 forecast by Wall Street.
McDonald’s shares fell 2.5% to $ 240.07 on Wednesday amid broader and volatile trading in US markets.
BRICK, NJ – A claim circulating on social media that a boys’ high school should be discussed at an August meeting of the Brick Township Planning Board is not true, township officials said Thursday.
The leaflet, which was posted to several Facebook groups and shared on Patch, claims the planning council is set to hear a proposal to turn the Temple Beth Gold property on Van Zile Road into “an illegal boys’ school. “.
The flyer says the proposal is to be discussed at the August 11 planning council meeting and urges people to come to the municipal building.
Brick Township Planning Council Secretary Pamela O’Neill, who manages the Planning and Zoning Council’s calendar, said there was not even an application filed for the site at 200, Van Zile road.
“We have no requests for the property and it is not scheduled for the Aug. 11 Planning Council or the Adjustment Council,” O’Neill said in an email to Patch Thursday afternoon.
Temple Beth Gold sold the property earlier this year because its congregation is shrinking.
The leaflet, which claimed the request had to be approved quickly due to the start of the school year in September, sparked a wave of phone calls and social media shares, with people complaining about the potential impacts on traffic and quality. of life.
Brick Township Business Administrator Joanne Bergin said the post “was inaccurate.”
“We have received phone calls regarding a post indicating that a planning board meeting was scheduled to hear a request for the Temple Beth Gold site. This post was inaccurate and created confusion,” she said. . “There is no application filed and there is no hearing date.”
The process of obtaining an application before the planning or zoning board is governed by state land use laws which include a number of requirements. The flyer claimed the owner was looking for a change in use.
This would require filing an application and, once the application is complete, a date set for the hearing.
Once the hearing date is set, the owner must notify all people whose properties are within 200 feet of the property and must provide proof that the letters were properly mailed. The hearing must also be the subject of legal announcements in at least one newspaper.
City planner Tara Paxton told Jersey Shore Online that it typically takes two to four months to complete the administrative process to the point where it gets on the agenda.
Failure to comply with any of these rules may result in automatic rejection by the planning board.
Click here to receive email notifications of fixes or download our app to receive late-breaking alerts right to your phone. Do you have a tip? Email [email protected] Follow Brick Patch on Facebook.
McDonald’s posted better-than-expected sales in the second quarter as dining rooms reopened and new chicken sandwiches generated customer traffic.
Revenue jumped 57% to nearly $ 5.9 billion in the April-June period. That topped Wall Street’s forecast by $ 5.6 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Global comparable store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, increased 40.5% from the same period a year ago. It was an easy comparison; the second quarter of 2020 was the low point of the pandemic for McDonald’s, when closures closed stores and sales plunged 30%.
But even compared to 2019, a year before the pandemic hit the United States, same-store sales were 7% higher.
The reopening of dining rooms around the world has brought McDonald’s closer to what would be considered normal before the pandemic. The UK reopened dining halls in May, while France and Germany reopened them in June, McDonald’s said. In the United States, 70% of dining rooms are now open, and the company expects all to be open by Labor Day, barring a resurgence of the coronavirus.
“When the markets reopen, customer demand returns quickly,” CFO Kevin Ozan said on a conference call with investors on Wednesday.
There were still a few hiccups, such as a resurgence of COVID that limited operations at restaurants in southern China.
There has also been a resurgence of infections in parts of the United States, especially in places where more people are reluctant to get vaccinated.
New menu items __ like the Crispy Chicken Sandwich in the US and McSpicy in Australia and UK __ boosted sales. A worldwide meal promotion with South Korean pop group BTS __ the latest in a series that also included a meal by rapper Travis Scott __ was also a huge success. CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company plans more celebrity ties, but also new ways to generate buzz around the brand.
“My challenge for our marketing team here at McDonald’s is figuring out what the next big idea will be,” he said.
The company also increased prices 6% from a year ago to offset rising food and labor costs, which also boosted sales.
Attracting workers has been a challenge emerging from the pandemic in the United States as well as in Europe, where border restrictions have limited the supply of workers, Kempczinski said.
Like other national chains, McDonald’s has increased wages to attract workers. In May, McDonald’s announced that it would increase wages at its 650 U.S. stores to $ 15 an hour by 2024. Including franchise stores, McDonald’s wages have increased 5% this year, Kempczinski said. .
The company is seeing a growing number of job applications in the United States, especially in states like Florida and Missouri which ended improved unemployment benefits in June, Kempckinsi said. In other states, these benefits end in September.
“I think there is evidence that as the federal stimulus package rolls out you will see an improvement in the demand rate,” Kempczinski said.
Because it was so difficult to find enough workers, the average ordering time took an additional 3 seconds, Kempczinski said, but he thinks it is a short-term problem. The company has actually improved uptime by 30 seconds over the past few years.
“The gains have been too tough,” Kempczinski said.
The Chicago burger giant made a second quarter net profit of $ 2.2 billion. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $ 2.37 per share. It was well above the $ 2.11 forecast by Wall Street.
McDonald’s shares fell 2.5% to $ 240.07 on Wednesday amid broader and volatile trading in US markets.
McDonald’s posted better-than-expected sales in the second quarter as dining rooms reopened and new chicken sandwiches generated customer traffic.
Revenue jumped 57% to nearly $ 5.9 billion in the April-June period. That topped Wall Street’s forecast by $ 5.6 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Global comparable store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, increased 40.5% from the same period a year ago. It was an easy comparison; the second quarter of 2020 was the low point of the pandemic for McDonald’s, when closures closed stores and sales plunged 30%.
But even compared to 2019, a year before the pandemic hit the United States, same-store sales were 7% higher.
The reopening of dining rooms around the world has brought McDonald’s closer to what would be considered normal before the pandemic. The UK reopened dining halls in May, while France and Germany reopened them in June, McDonald’s said. In the United States, 70% of dining rooms are now open, and the company expects all to be open by Labor Day, barring a resurgence of the coronavirus.
“When the markets reopen, customer demand returns quickly,” CFO Kevin Ozan said on a conference call with investors on Wednesday.
There were still a few hiccups, such as a resurgence of COVID that limited operations at restaurants in southern China.
There has also been a resurgence of infections in parts of the United States, especially in places where more people are reluctant to get vaccinated.
New menu items, like the Crispy Chicken Sandwich in the US and McSpicy in Australia and the UK, boosted sales. A worldwide meal promotion with South Korean pop group BTS – the latest in a series that also included a meal from rapper Travis Scott – was also a huge success. CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company plans more celebrity ties, but also new ways to generate buzz around the brand.
“My challenge for our marketing team here at McDonald’s is figuring out what the next big idea will be,” he said.
The company also increased prices 6% from a year ago to offset rising food and labor costs, which also boosted sales.
Attracting workers has been a challenge emerging from the pandemic in the United States as well as in Europe, where border restrictions have limited the supply of workers, Kempczinski said.
Like other national chains, McDonald’s has increased wages to attract workers. In May, McDonald’s announced that it would increase wages at its 650 U.S. stores to $ 15 an hour by 2024. Including franchise stores, McDonald’s wages have increased 5% this year, Kempczinski said. .
The company is seeing a growing number of job applications in the United States, especially in states like Florida and Missouri which ended improved unemployment benefits in June, Kempckinsi said. In other states, these benefits end in September.
“I think there is evidence that as the federal stimulus package rolls out you will see an improvement in the demand rate,” Kempczinski said.
Because it was so hard to find enough workers, the average ordering time took an extra 3 seconds, Kempczinski said, but he thinks it is a short-term problem. The company has actually improved uptime by 30 seconds over the past few years.
“The gains have been too tough,” Kempczinski said.
The Chicago burger giant made a second quarter net profit of $ 2.2 billion. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $ 2.37 per share. It was well above the $ 2.11 forecast by Wall Street.
