Monopoly’s return gives McDonald’s July boost

Here’s some food for thought: success at McDonald's is no longer synonymous with flash-frozen beef patties.

Same-store sales at McDonald’s increased 0.7% last month, a period in which only the U.S. market reported sales growth. In contrast, McDonald’s had long relied on fatter wallets, followed by widening waistlines, in emerging markets for its growth. Same-store sales are a key metric of a chain’s health because it strips away volatile results from newly opened or close restaurants.

In the United States, sales increased 1.6%. By comparison, sales actually decreased 0.1% last year in July, a month after new CEO Don Thompson succeeded the company’s savior, Jim Skinner. The sales growth last month came mostly from the reappearance of the Monopoly game, which arrived back in McDonald’s for the 21st year. Along with the peel-and-stick coupon riff on the Parker Brothers classic, new chicken menu options, like the Premium McWraps, helped sales in the U.S.

Shares of McDonald’s inched up 0.2% to $98.50 in pre-market trading. Newly resurgent competition from Yum Brands‘ Taco Bell, Burger King and Wendy’s are forcing McDonald’s to scramble after a yearslong domination of the fast food business. Under Skinner, McDonald’s led the way in putting new healthy options on menu–a tactic that Taco Bell, Burger King and Wendy’s have all since copied. At the same time, new fast casual chains like Panera Bread and Chipotle have followed a similar strategy from the beginning.

Abroad, McDonald’s sales in July were miserable, falling 1.9% in both Europe and the Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. McDonald’s promises to evaluate “local consumer dynamics” to get a handle on why fewer foreigners are entering the Golden Arches.