Slate.com Explains why Europeans Hate Wal-Mart & Mc Donald’s

According to Slate.com, marketing professionals have feared that a global rift between the U.S. and Europe caused by the Iraq invasion would hurt America’s strongest and iconic brands. Both Coca-Cola and Mc Donald’s suffered sales repercussions but according to the article not all companies suffer equally.

McDo at the Louvre

I found the article written by Claire Barthelemy “ ‘Bad Taste’ cries as McDonald’s moves into ‘Mona Lisa’ museum” on CNN.com. After McDonald’s celebrated 30 years of business in France, the international company has announced the opening of yet another McDonald’s in the country, with its newest location inside the most visited museum in the world, The Louvre. McDonald’s is opening a restaurant in the Carrousel du Louvre, which is an underground shopping mall that lies under the main entrance of the museum. The decision to place McDonald’s in a museum housing historical and ancient art has been very upsetting to many people in France, and the topic has led to a lot of media attention recently, both abroad and in France.

General Electric in Europe

Before looking for an article, I decided to look up America’s largest corporations. The top ten were Exxon Mobil, Wal-mart, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, General Electric, General Motors, Ford Motor, AT&T, Hewlett Packard, and Valero Energy. I continued my research and found an article about General Electric in London. It stated that their sales have slipped from one year highs. The article was from Friday, October 16th and the statistics were just updated that day. IBM and Google were also mentioned; their results were disappointing as well, but they are both doing better than General Electric has been.

American Companies in the European Market

An article on Businessweek.com titled “Microsoft and Europe Near Browser Truce” by Nick Clark had grabbed my attention. American company, Microsoft, could finally possibly be ending the decade long battle with the European Union. The regulator is planning to open up different internet browsers to competitors on Windows. A main worry is that Microsoft will link Internet Explorer to Windows. If this would come to be, then users will not have a choice in which web browser they will be able to use. Mozilla Firefox would be an example of a different web browser.

Wal-Mart’s Painful Lessons

Wal-Mart has clearly seen its successes in North America. The headquarters in Arkansas gave early and easy access for the company to venture into Mexico in 1991, where the chain of stores really began to hit it off. Across North America, the strategy of “…big box – low cost model…” clicked with everyday and bargain shoppers. However, the very opposite happened in parts of Europe and Asia; after experimenting with Wal-Mart in Germany and Korea, the chain withdrew from these countries in 2006 due to poor results.

McDonald’s at the Louvre

McDonald’s is set to open a new location in the food court of the Louvre mall. A lot of French residents are bothered by this because of the negative connotation that McDonald’s is known for. Angry residents are claiming that mixing McDonald’s with treasured art pieces is not called for or does not belong.

Microsoft Giving Competition a Run for Their Money?

Companies have always rivaled one another. There is always a fight to see which company can get a successful product out the fastest. Microsoft, a global company is challenging its competitors once again by launching a new set of “smart phones” in Europe. Journalist Nick Clark further discusses this controversial matter in “Microsoft Kicks Off New Phones in Europe”. The chief executive of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer visited the United Kingdom to share the Windows phones. According to Microsoft, the system will have “better browsing capabilities and quick access to services including Windows Live and search engine Bing.”

Starbucks Vs. McDonalds

For this week I found an article from ABC news entitled Coffee Wars: McDonald’s Versus Starbucks. McDonald’s McCafe is taking aim at Starbucks in Europe. They plan to have around 1,100 of there specialty coffee cafes across Europe. These Cafes are located inside of already existing Starbucks but they have a separate area with nice furniture. The goal for McDonalds is to have 200 more in Europe in order to become the number one coffee seller.

Starbucks in EU

The article talks about Starbucks chairman and chief executive Howard Schultz and his plan to make Starbucks a greater presence in Europe. The article says that over the next three years, over 150 Starbucks will open in Europe and the United Kingdom. They want to focus mainly on airports and railway stations. The key markets that Starbucks is looking to consolidate their business in are Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.

American Company in the Europe Market

I had somewhat of a difficult time finding an article that related well to the topic this week. I read two that I found in the New York Times about Apple Computers in Europe and combined the information. The first article titled, “Europe Stumbles in Computers,” talks about how behind Europe is in the computer developing market. Many powerful people in Europe do not understand why they cannot design and produce new and innovative companies over America and China. Because of this, many American companies are having greater success abroad than at home. “If you want to know where the major U.S. personal computer firms are making money these days, it’s not in the U.S.,” John Sculley, the chairman of Apple Computer Inc., based in Cupertino, Calif., said recently. “There really is no European computer industry. So we are doing well there.”