One in four McDonald’s to offer UberEats delivery
McDonald’s said delivery through UberEats will be available in about one in four of its U.S. locations by the end of June, or about 3,500 restaurants in total.
The world’s largest burger chain currently offers delivery via UberEats from more than 2,000 restaurants nationwide, in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta.
McDonald’s, which tested the service in several cities in Florida earlier this year, said it’s “encouraged by early results.” Almost 60 percent of orders are being placed in the evening hours or after midnight, times of the day when McDonald’s restaurants are typically slowest. This is allowing franchisees, who run most of McDonald’s restaurants, to extend their business at a time when they would typically not be producing many sales.
But delivery still comes with big risks. UberEats’ delivery charge is $5, more than nearly all of the chain’s menu items.
The average delivery now takes about 30 minutes, shorter than many other options on UberEats, Easterbrook said.
Kellogg’s to close distribution centers
Kellogg Co. is shuttering distribution centers around the nation and cutting more than 1,000 workers, as it follows through with a cost-cutting plan amid falling sales.
The maker of Frosted Flakes, Pop Tarts and Eggo waffles said earlier this year it would close nearly 40 distribution centers and use a warehouse system. It said it would be ending direct delivery of products to supermarkets and big-box retailers and instead ship those products to warehouses before they move to retailers’ distribution centers. That’s a system the company already was using for the majority of its products.
The Battle Creek, Mich.-based company will shut down a distribution center in Memphis and lay off 172 workers. It will close a center in Sharonville, Ohio, and lay off nearly 250 employees. Other closings include centers in Houston and Fort Worth, Texas, affecting 420 workers. Facilities in Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C., will also close, affecting 500 workers.
New England closes last major coal power plant
New England’s largest – and one of its last – coal-fired power plants is shutting down permanently.
The owner of the Brayton Point Power Station says it will cease operating Wednesday.
The plant has generated electricity since the 1960s along Mount Hope Bay in Somerset, Mass., near the Rhode Island border. It’s been cited by federal regulators as one of the region’s heaviest polluters.
A decision to close it was made in 2013.
Houston-based plant owner Dynegy says it’s worked to help 170 workers find other jobs. A smaller crew is staying on for the decommissioning process.
New England’s electric grid operator says the low price of natural gas has led coal plants to retire. Smaller coal plants still operate in New Hampshire and Connecticut. Connecticut’s is expected to close by 2021.
Pending home sales fell again in April
Americans retreated from signing contracts to buy homes in April for the second straight month, a possible sign that a declining number of homes on the market are stifling sales during the traditional spring buying season.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that its pending home sales index fell 1.3 percent in April to 109.8, after slipping 0.9 percent in March to 111.3. The index has fallen 3.3 percent over the past 12 months.
Potential buyers are crowding open houses in many neighborhoods because there are fewer sales listings. Rising home values have not led more people to list their properties for sale, contrary to the expectations of many economists that great demand would lead to increased supplies. The number of properties for sale has plunged 9 percent over the past year to 1.93 million, according to the Realtors in a separate report last week.