McDonald’s to add 5 breakfast items to dollar menu in January; move could help draw customers

McDonald’s to roll out breakfast dollar menu

CHICAGO — McDonald’s Corp. will begin selling a variety of breakfast items for $1 early next month, a spokeswoman for the world’s largest hamburger chain said Thursday.

The move to add to its already popular dollar menu comes as McDonald’s tries to fight a decline in U.S. sales, which have slipped following months of success when its cheap eats were a big draw for recession-strapped diners.

On tap to be added to the menu, which already includes eight items for lunch and dinner time, are the company’s Sausage McMuffin, a sausage burrito, a sausage biscuit, a small coffee and a hash brown.

Spokeswoman Danya Proud said some of the dishes are already sold for a dollar at some locations, although prices often vary.

Most fast-food restaurants, which spent recent years expand their early morning business, have seen a decline in breakfast diners as unemployment climbs and fewer workers stop in for coffee and a breakfast sandwich on their way to the office.

According to market research firm NPD group, breakfast traffic fell 2 percent this summer at the nation’s fast food restaurants.

R.J. Hottovy, a restaurant analyst at Morningstar, said Thursday’s move should McDonald’s begin to recover some that lost breakfast business, in which it is still dominant among fast-food chains.

“Most firms realize breakfast represents a way to add incremental revenue,” he said. “I don’t think that’s changed, but you have to make that a little more affordable in the current environment.”

A dollar breakfast menu also puts pressure on McDonald’s competitors, many of whom are also rushing to slash menu prices to keep customers — and their wallets — happy.

Dunkin Donuts is trying out a 99-cent breakfast menu in Chicago. And Burger King’s nationwide breakfast value menu that includes hash browns, a ham omelet sandwich and three french toast sticks for $1 each.

McDonald’s is based in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill. Its shares rose 49 cents to $61.09 in late-afternoon trading Thursday.