【美国人物志】雷·克拉克（4/6）

英语自学网

雷·克拉克（Ray Kroc，1902年10月5日－1984年1月14日），美国企业家，生于伊利诺伊州。1955年，他接管了当时规模很小的麦当劳公司的特许权，将其发展成全球最成功的快餐集团之一。他被《时代》杂志列为全球最有影响力的企业创始人之一。1974年开始，他成为圣地牙哥教士棒球队老板。
Hints:
McDonald
Des Plaines
Illinois
Kroc
the United States

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The first McDonald's restaurant opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955. Ray Kroc was 52 years old -- an age when many people start thinking about retirement. He opened two restaurants. Soon he began to understand that the real profits were made in selling hamburgers, not the mixers. He quickly sold the mixer company and invested the money in the growing chain of McDonald's restaurants. In 1960, Mr. Kroc bought the legal rights to the restaurants from the McDonald brothers. By then, the chain had more than 200 restaurants.
Fast food restaurants spread quickly in the United States because of franchising. Franchising means selling the legal right to operate a store in a company's chain to an independent business person. If the company approves, the business person may buy or lease the store for a period of years. Many people want to own a McDonald's restaurant, but only a few are approved. Each restaurant buys its supplies at a low cost from the parent company. Each restaurant also gives the company about ten percent of the money it earns in sales. Today, about 70 percent of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent businessmen and women.