Ray Kroc introduced McDonald’s modern franchise expansion after visiting the McDonald brothers’ restaurant.
Kroc was a milkshake-mixer salesman who became interested in Richard and Maurice McDonald’s unusually efficient restaurant operation in San Bernardino, California. He saw that their limited menu, assembly-line preparation, and consistent service could be replicated in many locations.
In 1955, Kroc opened a McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, and created the McDonald’s System, Inc. organization that helped expand the brand. His approach emphasized uniform restaurant design, menus, procedures, and customer experience.
Kroc did not invent the original Speedee Service System or design the Golden Arches. Those elements came from the McDonald brothers and their collaborators. His major branding contribution was scaling a local restaurant concept into a nationally and internationally recognizable chain.