By Waylon Cunningham
(Reuters) -McDonald’s Corp is shutting down the five beverage-centered CosMc’s stores it opened in 2023, but said some drinks from the standalone concept would be tested in McDonald’s restaurants.
The company said on Friday it had opened the stores as a test to learn more about the “fast-growing beverage space,” which it said it had a “right to win.”
It said the standalone stores – in markets including San Antonio, Texas – allowed it to test new flavor and technologies without impacting existing McDonald’s restaurants.
The company said it will test “CosMc’s-inspired” drinks to its main menu at hundreds of U.S. stores. The company has more than 14,000 locations in the U.S.
In March, McDonald’s announced it would be establishing a new internal team to develop new beverages.
The company said all CosMc’s would be closed on a rolling basis beginning in late June. The CosMc’s app will also be discontinued.
Restaurant consultant John Gordon said McDonald’s has historically been “very quiet” in the beverage space compared with other restaurant chains, which have experimented with complicated drinks that typically carry a higher profit margin than food items.
(Reporting by Waylon Cunningham in New YorkEditing by Matthew Lewis)
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