New McDonald's Being Built to Keep Pace with Current Times and Booming Business

Couple's Construction - Kathy and Shane Spurlock stand in the foreground of construction where their McDonald's store is being erected at 3307 10th Street, Great Bend. The Spurlock's had their groundbreaking in February to build the 4,900 square-foot McDonald's. The couple's daughter, Emily turned the first shovel full of dirt, while her toddler sister Mackenzie curiously watched. Shane began his career with McDonald's as a 16-year-old high school student in southern Illinois. "I'm proud of how I got to where I'm at today," said Shane about his unwavering career path. Kathy also worked at McDonald's as a high school and college student in southern Illinois. After following a career in the bank management field, she returned to the McDonald's when she married Shane in 2001.

Construction crews work in overdrive at 3307 10th Street, Great Bend, where a new McDonald's store is quickly taking shape. A few yards west of the construction chaos, the vintage McDonald's continues turning out its signature Big Macs and Quarter Pounders in quick fashion, just as it did when it opened its doors in 1974. McDonald's remains true to its origins today, but at the same time, much has changed from those golden arches days when the slogan, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun," became a novel concept for a Big Mac commercial and cool for kids to say in three seconds.

Groundbreaking - The Spurlock's had their groundbreaking in February to build the 4,900 square-foot McDonald's. The couple's daughter, Emily turned the first shovel full of dirt, while her toddler sister Mackenzie curiously watched.

"The original building was built before McDonald's had drive-through and before McDonald's served breakfast," said store owner Shane Spurlock, who purchased the store five years ago with the original plan to tear down and rebuild. "Obviously, that building has been changed and modified in order to accommodate for those things. There does come a certain point, however, when you recognize that the 33-year-old building is not designed for the menu items that we serve in 2007."

Spurlock did, what he terms, a band-aid remodel of McDonald's in 2003, a year after he purchased the store. His original business plan called for the rebuild to occur in 2009, however, business has experienced a sales increase every year for the last five years, causing capacity issues with freezer and storage spaces. Facing those problems, Spurlock moved his plan ahead two years.

New Meets Old - The new McDonald's building is constructed alongside the current store, shown in the background. The old store will stay open until the end of this month until it's time to raze the building to make room for the new parking lot. The new store will open in two to four weeks following the old stores closing. This is the third McDonald's store that Spurlock has built. He built his first two in Kentucky, the first when he was 24 years old 13 years ago and the second two years later in 1996. He has owned nine stores during his time in the business.

The new McDonald's provides 4,900 square feet of space inside and will be equipped with two drive-through lanes with two menu boards and two speakers. That's important because a large portion of McDonald's business comes from the drive through, said Spurlock. The double drive-through will speed up service by allowing McDonald's to wait on two drive-through customers at the same time and then merge them back at the first window to receive their orders. A computerized cash-register assistant photographs vehicles to help keep the orders organized. The inside dining will offer a more adult-oriented dining room with plasma TVs in the dining room. Wi-Fi will soon be available to accommodate business travelers. The dining room was designed into three sections: A "fast zone" for people to want in and out as quickly as possible; a family zone; and a social zone. The interior design goal was to have a "forever young design," said Spurlock.

Interior Design - Great Bend's new McDonalds will have a similar decor package to this McDonalds recently constructed in Florida. Spurlock said his new Great Bend store will have the same ceiling, floor tile and color of seats. Initially, Spurlock wasn't set on the design until Interior Systems Inc. traveled to the Florida store and took photos. "They had these packages and all these color swatches," said Spurlock. "I told them, I have to see what they look like. They went to Florida and took pictures of it, came back and sold me on the design."

Store manager Tami Reeves runs McDonald's daily operations along with about 50 employees as construction happens just outside the current store's east and north windows. The store will continue operation until the end of this month, when McDonald's will close till the end of June. During that closing, construction crews will raze the old building, fill in the basement, and pave the new parking lot. Ingresses and egresses will be reconfigured and constructed. The current entrance on 10th Street will become an entrance/exit; the current exit will be eliminated and the entrance/exit on Harrison will move further south. Amid the frazzled pace of constant construction, added to the pressure of operating a food service business, the process could easily become a game of nerves for Spurlock. But he doesn't appear to be stressed or anxious with the process. It's the third project he's built from the ground up in 13 years. At 24 years old, he built his first McDonald's in Kentucky in 1994 and then built another store in that state two years later. He's also owned nine McDonald's stores during his career with the chain that began as a 16-year-old high school student in southern Illinois.

Interior Design - Great Bend's new McDonalds will have a similar decor package to this McDonalds recently constructed in Florida. Spurlock said his new Great Bend store will have the same ceiling, floor tile and color of seats. Initially, Spurlock wasn't set on the design until Interior Systems Inc. traveled to the Florida store and took photos. "They had these packages and all these color swatches," said Spurlock. "I told them, I have to see what they look like. They went to Florida and took pictures of it, came back and sold me on the design."

"I've been comfortable with this one," said Spurlock about the building progress. "Construction always seems to come down to the wire and then it all pulls together in the final days and hours. I'm not nervous."

He also continues operating his only other McDonald's in Concordia. He purchased that one in 2001, which took him from his home-state of Illinois. That's the year he married Kathy, who left the banking management field to return to a career with McDonald's where she had worked in high school and college. The Spurlocks and Great Bend store manager Tami Reeves have a combined 70 years of McDonald's experience between them and they are positioning their Great Bend store for more growth in the years ahead. "We'll be trying to change the economics of 10th Street with our new store," said Spurlock. "In the service industry, we are always looking for help. With the new store, we will hire more employees and we will offer them higher wages than our competitors do in our immediate trading area."