30 YEARS IN BUSINESS GOOD FOR McDONALD’S GRAVENHURST

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Business is good at McDonald’s Gravenhurst.

Thirty years after opening, guest count and customer satisfaction are up.

And at the busiest store in the Muskoka franchise it can only improve with the latest new look and feel in the 106-seat south Gravenhurst restaurant, says owner Alan Cumber.

After a month down for renovations, he says they’ve recouped the lost business and that headwind is now a tailwind as they head into the summer with a lot of bus traffic and young customers who like to use the self-serve kiosk rather than wait in line.

Cumber was on hand Saturday for an anniversary party and official re-opening.

Councillor Penny Varney, right, helps McDonald’s owner Alan Cumber present $5,000 cheque to Colin Miller of the SMMH Foundation on Saturday.

He said even with four new points of service no jobs will be lost, and some workers were employed at his Bracebridge store during the construction. It was renovated in 2015.

Cumber also owns the chain’s restaurants in Huntsville (renovated in 2016) and Parry Sound.

He said the highway locations are his best.

Cumber, who has been with McDonald’s for 26 years — coming from the Hamilton area — bought into the Muskoka restaurants 13 years ago from Steve Audett, whose father Bud opened the Gravenhurst store in 1989.

And Cumber continues to see sales increase year-over-year for some time now, a trend he says McDonald’s corporate Canada has also experienced, thanks in part to millennials.

He notes the departure of TV screens, which would have allowed customers to watch news about the Raptors rapture was a corporate design decision.

However, it didn’t seem to diminish a decent late Saturday morning crowd, who got to enjoy cake.

Cumber was able to donate $5,000 to the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital Foundation (one of his many favourite charities), which is being matched through the Foundation by a donation from Brock Napier.

As well, this week (until Sunday June 2) $1 from each Big Mac and Big Mac combo, will be donated to Community Living South Muskoka.

Their CEO Krista Haiduk-Collier was on hand with a handful of their members to thank Cumber and enjoy a Big Mac.

Gravenhurst associate manager Chris Lewis, who rushed back from Ottawa and a Lions Club event with his daughter Jess late Friday, said he’s pleased with the front-end changes and the new ease with which they are able to serve customers.

McDonald’s staff hold the ribbon as councillors Heidi Lorenz, left, Penny Varney and McDonald’s owner Alan Cumber officially re-open the restaurant.
Thirty years of the Big Arches was celebrated in Gravenhurst Saturday at anniversary and renovation party.