List of Facts about Ray Kroc, Man Who Made McDonalds Worldwide

VIVA English Site – Not many people know about Ray Kroc. It turns out that Ray Kroc is the man behind the success of McDonald's. His persistence and hard work have been able to bring the McDonald’s fast food restaurant business to be known worldwide.

Ray Kroc has a successful and inspirational story that rarely people know about. Before McDonald’s became a worldwide success, Ray Kroc was a salesman who sold various equipment such as paper cups, milkshake mixers, and others.

So, here are some fun facts about the success of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s.

1. Ray Kroc and His Friends Opened a Music Store

Before opening a fast-food chicken restaurant, Ray Kroc and his friends created a music shop called Emporium Musk Ray Kroc in 1916. They sold sheet music while Ray Kroc played the piano. However, they only stayed in business for a few months, and it means, Ray Kroc started business at 14 years old.

2. Ray did Various Jobs during Depression
Ray Kroc is known to have experienced severe depression. During this time, he sold paper cups at one point and even played the piano for various bands. He managed to create a job as a real estate agent in Florida at the time.

However, it was not surprising, given the state of the US economy that was in ruins at the time. He really couldn't afford to pick a job when jobs were so hard to come by at the time.

3. Ray Did Not Find McDonald's

Ray Kroc made McDonald's globally, but those who invented this fast-food restaurant were a pair of brothers, Richard James and Maurice James McDonald. They called this the Speedee Delivery System in 1948.

At that time, he worked as a salesman selling Multimixer milkshake machines. Ray's attention was drawn to McDonald Brothers after they had purchased eight machines at a time when sales were on a downward trend.

Met the two founders of Mcdonald's, finally, the three of them saw each other's potential, with Ray Kroc and the McDonald Brothers forming a business partnership.

4. McDonald's Only Had a Simple Menu at that Time
They only sell two types of food, actually: fries and hamburgers. They also sell soft drinks and milkshakes, and at much lower prices too. Back then, it only cost 15 cents for a hamburger, 10 cents for fries, and 20 cents for a milkshake.

5. Ray Kroc is Not the First Person to be Granted a Franchise License by the McDonald Brothers
The brothers had opened eight other restaurants and licensed another 20 franchises by the time they met Ray. It was only after they met and started working with Ray that McDonald's started to grow.

6. Ray's First McDonalds Became a museum
Realizing its value, McDonald's bought the location and then rebuilt the destroyed restaurant. Most retains the appearance of when Ray ran the shop but feature modern conveniences.

McDonald's also added a museum and gift shop right next to the store, which they advertise as McDonald's #1 Store Museum. The restaurant remains open today, however, the gift shop closed in 2018.

7. Ray Tried to Open McDonald’s at Disneyland
In early 1954, Ray Kroc tried to open a McDonald's restaurant at Disneyland. An urban legend has it that Disney was open to the idea, but wanted a slight price increase to take advantage of McDonald's presence in its parks.

Ray refused because he saw them taking advantage of his customers. However, historians generally dismiss this as merely an urban legend, and that Disney just rejected Ray's proposal. In 1990, McDonald's finally opening a store at Disneyland.

8. Ray Introduces New Policy for Food Franchise
First, he only started selling franchises in single-store form. Previously, franchisees could open multiple stores in a given area, but under Ray's influence, they could only open one store per franchise.

This increases the franchisor's control over the chain as a whole, as well as the franchise. Ray also made sure to open new stores only in the suburbs, and no longer in the city center. In this way, it makes the restaurant more accessible to people who want to eat out after hours.

9. Ray Sets High Standards for Restaurant
Ray wanted good service and quality, so it's no surprise that he insists on high standards. He emphasized good sanitation and required staff to be kept clean and tidy at all times. He also made it a policy for employees to treat children politely no matter what. 

Ray also insists that staff regularly scrape spice containers to achieve his policy of minimal waste at all costs. He also banned smoking in all restaurants and banned the presence of pinball machines in restaurants.

10. Has a Strange Policy When It Comes to Hired New Managers
In particular, Ray refused to hire anyone with a Master's degree in any Arts course. He did it because he thought such a background lacked the necessary skills in managing a business. Odd as it may sound, this policy worked quite well for Ray, making it difficult for historians to dispute it.

11. Ray Kroc Has a No Secretary Policy
While Ray leads the company, none of the executives have the option of hiring a secretary to assist them in their duties. Ray believed that executives should have a direct mentality when it comes to their work and used this policy to enforce that belief.

12. Ray Had a Fight with the McDonald Brothers
Ray Kroc once argued with the McDonald Brothers for not liking Ray Kroc's idea of ??expanding the company. McDonald Brothers were trying to keep a small number of restaurants and this frustrated Ray because, at the time, McDonald's was facing competition from a new fast-food company.

These companies include Burger King and KFC. McDonald Brothers also frustrated Ray with their refusal to allow any changes to the restaurant's design. This led Ray to only buy the company for $2.7 million but was again frustrated when McDonald Brothers kept their original restaurant location. Ray opened a new McDonald's restaurant nearby and forced them out of business after a few years.

13. Ray Kroc Suffers from Alcoholism
In 1980, Ray Kroc suffered a stroke caused by alcohol. After the stroke, Ray went into an alcohol rehab facility to try and get out of the habit.

Before his death, he founded the Kroc Foundation. The foundation provides support for research into the treatment of conditions such as alcoholism, arthritis, diabetes, and sclerosis. The foundation later founded the Ronald McDonald House, a non-profit housing organization for parents of children for medical facilities for treatment.

14. Ray Kroc Founded Hamburger University for Future McDonald’s Employees
Located in Chicago, Hamburger University provides restaurant management training to McDonald's executives at various levels. All prospective franchisees must attend university before they can obtain a franchise from McDonald's.

An estimated 275,000 people have completed studies at Hamburger University, which supports about 5,000 students for one year.

Halaman Selanjutnya

At that time, he worked as a salesman selling Multimixer milkshake machines. Ray's attention was drawn to McDonald Brothers after they had purchased eight machines at a time when sales were on a downward trend.