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Chicago

McDonald’s staying put in Chicago despite high crime

CEO Chris Kempczinski said it was hard not to leave

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski (McDonald, Google Maps, Getty Images)
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski (McDonald, Google Maps, Getty Images)

McDonald’s is expanding its footprint in the West Loop, but CEO Chris Kempczinski says the city of Chicago needs to “face facts” that crime is hurting downtown business.

The fast food giant said it plans to move its innovation center, which is currently in Romeoville, to its downtown headquarters, the Chicago Tribune reported. The move will bring about 120 jobs downtown.

Despite McDonald’s planting its roots deeper in Chicago’s West Loop, Kempczinski said that the city’s crime rate has forced big companies such as Caterpillar, Boeing and Citadel to relocate.

Boeing was the first to announce it will depart its headquarters of more than 20 years and will relocate to Arlington, Virginia. Then, in June, Ken Griffin announced plans to move his family and hedge fund Citadel to Miami. Finally, last month, Caterpillar listed its Deerfield office for sublease ahead of its move to Texas.

Kempczinski said multiple governors and mayors tried to court McDonald’s officials to attract the company to their cities and that it was a challenge convincing executives to stay put.

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Over the past two years there have been multiple shooting victims around Chicago-area McDonald’s. Nine people were shot and two were killed in a single incident near a Near North Side McDonald’s at Chicago Avenue and State Street.

Last year, 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams was shot while in the drive-thru lane at one of the restaurant’s locations in Homan Square. Kempczinski faced calls to resign after texts between him and Mayor Lori Lightfoot were released that showed him implying that the seven year old’s parents were ultimately responsible for what happened. He later apologized.

Despite the incidents, Kempczinski said McDonald’s decided it wouldn’t be right to leave the area as soon as things got bad.

“The worst thing to have happen would be for McDonald’s — when the trouble starts happening in a neighborhood — for us to start backing out.”

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— Victoria Pruitt

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Mcdonald'sOffice MarketWest Loop