--- description: The world's largest restaurant chain has reported another month of poor U.S. sales. title: McDonald’s Diners Are Still Staying Away in Droves image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte168f7115d0dc704/6988536de20a871dd8a8bb9d/mcdonalds.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Fast Food](/tag/fast-food/) ## Fast Food Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # McDonald’s Diners Are Still Staying Away in Droves by [John Kell / Fortune](/author/john-kell-fortune/) ## John Kell / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2015 4:35 PM CUT  ILLUSTRATION - Ein klassischer Big Mac Burger, eine grofle Portion Pommes und eine grofle Cola liegen am 21.04.2015 auf einem Tablett einer McDonald's Filiale in M¸hlheim am Main (Hessen). Die US-amerikanische Fast-Food-Kette verˆffentlicht am 22.04.2015 ihre Quartalszahlen. Photo by: Christoph Schmidt/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images ILLUSTRATION - Ein klassischer Big Mac Burger, eine grofle Portion Pommes und eine grofle Cola liegen am 21.04.2015 auf einem Tablett einer McDonald's Filiale in M¸hlheim am Main (Hessen). Die US-amerikanische Fast-Food-Kette verˆffentlicht am 22.04.2015 ihre Quartalszahlen. Photo by: Christoph Schmidt/picture-alliance/dpa/AP ImagesChristoph Schmidt—Christoph Schmidt/picture-allian by [John Kell / Fortune](/author/john-kell-fortune/) ## John Kell / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2015 4:35 PM CUT The much hoped for McDonald’s turnaround can’t come soon enough. The struggling hamburger chain reported that comparable sales in its biggest market, the United States, fell 2.2% in May, much worse than the 1.7% Wall Street analysts were anticipating, according to Consensus Metrix. McDonald’s was once again dinged by a drop in the number of people coming to eat in its restaurants and what it called [“ongoing competitive activity.”](http://news.mcdonalds.com/Corporate/Press-Releases/Financial-Release?xmlreleaseid=123068 "undefined") In other words, it continued to lose customers to rivals ranging from Chipotle Mexican Grill to Chick-Fil-A to Panera Bread. The world’s largest restaurant company is trying to remedy that with things like limited-time menu items (such as a third-of-a-pound burger), and a pared down menu aimed at speeding up service. The company also recently revived the Hamburglar character, now a hipster with stubble. And taking a page from Chipotle as it tries to woo diners concerned about how the food they eat is procured, McDonald’s has pledged to stop selling chicken raised with some antibiotics. (For an in-depth look at what went wrong at McDonald’s in recent years, please read this [recent _Fortune_ investigation](http://fortune.com/2014/11/12/can-mcdonalds-get-its-mojo-back/ "undefined").) McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook, who [took the top job](http://fortune.com/2015/01/28/mcdonalds-ceo-out/ "undefined") in March to stanch the company’s deteriorating results, has said he plans to turn the burger chain into a “modern, progressive burger company.” His [turnaround plan](http://fortune.com/2015/05/04/mcdonalds-turnaround-strategy/ "undefined"), announced in May, includes reorganizing management, cutting costs and returning cash to shareholders. More: [Read about McDonald’s in the latest Fortune 500 list](http://fortune.com/fortune500/mcdonalds-110/ "undefined") But while he waits for the turnaround to kick in, he at least he got a bit of a break from Europe, where comparable sales last month rose a more-than-expected 2.3%, helped in large part by strong numbers in Britain, a market Easterbrook is credited with helping to reviving. (His previous roles at the company included president of Europe division.) Company-wide, comparable sales, or sales at restaurants open at least 13 months, fell 0.3%, their 12th monthly drop in a row. This is the last time McDonald’s will report monthly sales. Beginning next month, the company [will only report](http://fortune.com/2015/05/27/mcdonalds-same-store-sales/ "undefined") on a quarterly basis. With numbers like these, which show that McDonald’s will need a lot of time to turn things around, you can easily see why. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3912769/mcdonalds-sales-turnaround/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3912769/mcdonalds-sales-turnaround/"},"headline":"McDonald’s Diners Are Still Staying Away in Droves","datePublished":"2015-06-08T16:35:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:00:44.934Z","description":"The world's largest restaurant chain has reported another month of poor U.S. sales","url":"https://time.com/3912769/mcdonalds-sales-turnaround/","keywords":["Fast Food","Mcdonald's","hamburger"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte168f7115d0dc704/6988536de20a871dd8a8bb9d/mcdonalds.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"John Kell / Fortune","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/john-kell-fortune/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte168f7115d0dc704/6988536de20a871dd8a8bb9d/mcdonalds.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"McDonald's","caption":"McDonald's","creditText":"Christoph Schmidt—Christoph Schmidt/picture-allian","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/fast-food/","name":"Fast Food"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3912769/mcdonalds-sales-turnaround/","name":"McDonald’s Diners Are Still Staying Away in Droves"}}]}] ```