Skip navigation
mcdonalds-times-square-nyc-closing.jpg
McDonald's is closing its 42nd Street/Times Square location to focus more on this Experience of the Future store a few blocks away, which opened last year.

McDonald’s permanently closing former Times Square flagship

The decision to shutter was in the works prior to the coronavirus pandemic, chain says

McDonald’s confirmed this week that the company has made the “difficult decision” to close the famed corporate store in Times Square, a move that was in the works prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

“McDonald’s reviews its restaurant portfolio on a regular basis to make the best decisions for our business moving forward,” the company said in a statement sent to Nation’s Restaurant News. “The closing of the 42nd Times Square restaurant, which was planned before the pandemic, was a difficult decision, and allows us to focus on serving customers a few blocks away at the new flagship McDonald’s on 45th and Broadway and in the neighboring communities.”

The company is referring to the year-old Experience of the Future store that opened in May 2019. The three-story 11,199-square foot store features a “glass curtain wall” that gives customers panoramic views of the neon lights of Times Square.  The flagship also has 18 kiosks and features a 9,280 square foot billboard, the 3rd-largest in Times Square.

“This renovation is about making a brand statement on the biggest stage in the world,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said when the restaurant opened last year. At the time, he was president of McDonald’s USA.

Contact Nancy Luna at [email protected] 

Follow her on Twitter: @fastfoodmaven

Correction: June 26, 2020
A cutline in an earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated the Experience of the Future store was closed.
TAGS: Operations
Hide comments

Comments

  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <blockquote> <br> <p>

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Publish