I don't know if this has ever happened before, that a big fast food chain CLOSES in a whole country....
Here's the source I translated from: http://www.mbl.is/mm/vids...pmestlesid

The Icelandic McDonald's franchisee is cutting ties with McDonald's and closing all three McDonald's restaurants in Iceland later this week. The reason is, according to the company, is because of the economic situation and the demands from McDonalds International to import almost all meat, cheese and veggies used in their burgers according to their standards.
The devaluation of the currency coupled with high import tariffs on agricultural products meant the cost doubled and made running the business more difficult. According to the company, they believe that economic conditions will not improve enough for long-term profit for the McDonald's franchise.
However, a new local fast-food chain called Metro, run by the old McDonald's franchise, will open on November 1st in the same locations as the McDonald's restaurants. They predict up to 15 new jobs will be created in the Icelandic food sector because they will now buy Icelandic beef, chicken, ice-cream, bread, vegetables and dairy instead of importing it like McDonald's insisted on.
And this is what will replace McDonald's in Iceland:


I'm kinda torn about this. We've had McDonald's for 16 years now and while I don't go there too often I do sometimes drop in for a quick fix of junk food. Burger King closed here a year ago but they expanded way too quickly for the market.. they had up to 6 restaurants at one point after just 2 years of business. I thought McDonald's would survive the recession here but I'm sure that someone else will open up a franchise here in a few years time, when the economy will start to recover. I will check out that new place though, just to see if it's any good. The former franchise of Burger King also opened up a new local place in one of their old restaurants and the burgers in the "new" joint weren't any good. So do you think this is a positive development, i.e. American chains with imported food closing and being replaced by local chains with locally sourced products or is it a sad reminder of the recession affecting all businesses?

P.S. I would like to remind everybody that Iceland is a country of only 320.000 inhabitants - just to put things in perspective.

Is iceland actually a country though? Isn't it just an annex of Canada?

Is that a 'whale burger'?

Iceland actually is an annex of one of the Scandanavian countries(not sure which one, though) even though its a seperate country!!! It even has a Scandanavian currency!! The next time u meet Bjork, I am sure she will tell u all about her country!!!!!

Actually, I am surprised that BK and MacDonalds have lasted that long in Iceland, considering their huge emphasis on health!!!!

japanrocks said:

This is just a regular beef burger with cheese.
And yeah, Iceland's a real country. We used to be a Danish/Norwegian colony for many centuries until we gained full independence in 1944. There were many Icelanders, however, that emigrated to Canada (especially Manitoba) in the late 19th century.
[Edited 10/26/09 5:28am]

great news

Desire2006 said:

We actually were part of the Norwegian crown from 1262 until late 14th century when Denmark and Norway were united, which lasted until the 19th century when Norway and Denmark split up again but Iceland remained a part of Denmark until 1944.
There's actually no such thing as a unified Scandinavian currency. Iceland, Norway and Sweden have their own currencies, Finland is part of the euro-zone and Denmark has its own currency but its exchange rate is tied to the euro.

if you can get a Happy Meal there, it can't be considered a country...

Desire2006 said:

Maybe you´re thinking of Greenland,which is part of Denmark.

In Germany, most,if not all products at McD´s, are made from German produce. German beef, German lettuce etc. As far as I know, this is common practice all over Europe so the Iceland example kinda surprises me a bit.

As long as that Metro joint delivers good quality, I think this is a good thing.It´s also better for your economy.

KoolEaze said:

I did not know they imported the beef until recently...
Someone told me that the McDonald's cheese is processed in a certain way that would make it necessary for the local cheese makers to buy new equipment just to make McDonald's cheese and the market was considered too small for that. I think the dairy products and ice-cream have been locally sourced though.

I'm sure closing that chain will not make Mcdonalds go bankrupt, in the grand scheme of things they couldn't ahve been making enormous sums of money.
[Edited 10/26/09 6:54am]

i want some mc. donalds right now...

They said on the news a hamber is 3 times as much there as it is in the U.S. and people were not buying any. I don't blame em.

KoolEaze said:

ours is all aussie beef, I'm sure NZs is too

would YOU eat a levitiating burger?

Imago said:

Annex of Canada?!? I figured that Iceland as a country were the abandon step-sibling of the United Kingdom.

Just to update this thread, I went today to the new joint that replaced McDonald's. There was a special opening offer, kinda funny story about it....

When McDonald's opened here in 1993 former prime minister David Oddsson, a very controversial figure in Iceland, had the first burger at the place.
There were constant reminders about this "historic" fact in the news about McDonald's closing, some people even suggesting it would be appropriate for him to eat the last burger, because under his watch as head of the Central Bank of Iceland all the major banks crashed, making the currency fall down in value rapidly which is the biggest reason why McDonald's is leaving in the first place. (He was fired from his job at the Central Bank and is now an editor of one of the big newspapers)
So anyway, the people at the new place replacing McDonald's decided to put a funny spin on all this so anyone named David got a free meal today.
I had their version of a quarter-pounder with cheese and it seems like they just simplified the old menu and changed the names on the menu because the burger tasted almost exactly like McDonald's, except now with Icelandic beef, Icelandic cheese, Icelandic bread, Icelandic veggies and served with Icelandic Coca-Cola. The fries are still imported though.

purplehippieonthe1 said:

and why Metro and not something catchy like Donaldsdottir?

ZombieKitten said:

Someone suggested McDavid, which is way more catchy.

purplehippieonthe1 said:

roodboi said:

and implicitly: all other meals? Unhappy.