Latest news with #GuzmanyGomez
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Sky News AU
American mum living in Brisbane causes online controversy after revealing bizarre list of things she hates about Australia
An American expat residing in Brisbane has sparked a lively online debate after listing her top grievances about Australia, including difficult shopping trolleys and a puzzling highway system. Lex, a social media content creator whose account provides an American perspective on integrating into Australian culture, posted the video to TikTok and listed her five top issues with her adopted homeland. Number one on the list was that Australian shops close their doors far earlier than those in America, with the former Houston-based mum admitting 'it was a little strange at first'. 'The shops close early here, I'm used to it, I've been here nine months, but it was a little strange at first, but I understand it, because there can be a duality with things like that'. An American expat residing in Australia has sparked a lively online debate after listing her top grievances about life down under. Picture: NewsWire /John Appleyard. The popular user then claimed in the US 'supermarkets are pretty much open all of the time'. However one user questioned, 'the shops close early where you are? Come to Victoria, the shops are open very late here'. The Brisbane mum's second bugbear was that Australian shopping trolleys are 'challenging to steer'. 'Shockingly 90 per cent of Aussies are in agreement with me on this," wrote Lex, adding she was "challenged with this nine months in'. The Brisbane mum was more confidant about her second bugbear, that being the unruly nature of Australian shopping trolleys. Picture: Bev Lacey/NCA. She conceded, 'you really have to put you body into it', with a raft of Australians taking to the comment section to encourage Coles and Woolworths to apply a generous portion of WD-40 to the aging fleet. 'You don't push a trolly here, you manage it' one person said. However another user claimed US trollies were far worse, writing "I HATE American trollys I go to Costco and it's infuriating." However, a more contentious compliant from the women was that 'Mexican food is pretty bad here' and was far inferior to that served in Texas. 'The Mexican food is not great, and I don't expect it to be great, it's just hard because in Texas the Tex-Mex is so good, I crave it'. One person said, 'the Mexican thing is true, but we're about as far from Mexico as you can get', whilst another disgruntled user asked, 'do you have a Guzman y Gomez in Brissie because that's pretty good?' "In Melbourne we have fabulous Mexican restaurants," shot back another commenter. However, a more contentious compliant from the women was that 'Mexican food is pretty bad here'. Picture: Guzman y Gomez via NCA NewsWire. The expat also unloaded on Australian motorways, and that they were almost impossible to understand. Picture: Nigel Hallett/NCA/ The expat also unloaded on Australian motorways, claiming they are almost impossible to navigate as opposed to the gigantic American interstate highway system. 'The highways here are a bit of a challenge, and I don't exactly know why, we turn around easily and take the wrong exit, and I can't figure out if it's the signage, the signage is different for sure,' the women said. 'The name of the highways aren't as prominent as Houston, the name of the highways are blatantly big in Texas and so that took me a minute. I had to get used to searching for the name of the highway which is what I was used to'. One user pointed out that 'the moment you use a tunnel in Brisbane [Google] maps no longer works', with another bemoaning that 'if you get off on the wrong exit, so often you can't just get back on! You're stuck!' Whilst admitting her last irk was 'so petty' the women was shocked that Australian restaurants and cafes make customers pay for condiments and sauces and stated this was the biggest culture shock of all. 'You have to pay for condiments here, in the states if you want 50 sauces then that's that, it goes to the other direction where it's wasteful, but yeah you have to pay for condiments here so that was an adjustment." However one follower fired back: "Surely you now need to expose how GREAT our sauce packets are? Squeeze to dispense - no ripping a packet - use again later in the meal - the best!"
AU Financial Review
20-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Barrenjoey's burrito orders are coming from inside the house
Warren Buffett bought See's Candies. Donald Trump has his Diet Coke button. Matthew Grounds has his … burrito bowls? Grounds' Barrenjoey has been wrapping itself around Mexican fast food retailer Guzman y Gomez with great relish for years.
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Not lovin' it: Australians enticed by premium rivals as McDonald's records rare fall in sales
McDonald's has recorded a rare, global decline in sales, as price-sensitive customers curb spending at the fast food giant. In Australia, the chain is also under pressure from a host of new rivals, with consumers swapping their traditional burger and fries for a burrito or charcoal chicken pack. The change in buying habits is raising questions over whether customers can still find a convenient, well-priced meal at McDonald's after a series of menu price increases. In a cost-of-living crisis, is the famed burger chain now just too expensive? McDonald's has just reported its steepest quarterly drop in US sales since early in the pandemic, with same-store sales down 3.6%. It also reported a decline in global sales. The results came amid sluggish spending by consumers across the US and in its key overseas markets, which include Australia. McDonald's executives remarked that high living costs were not just affecting lower-income consumers but also those on middle incomes, in a worrying sign for a business reliant on the mass market. Shaun Weick, the deputy portfolio manager at Sydney-based Wilson Asset Management, says the rise of competitors, including the Mexican-themed Guzman y Gomez, are enticing customers away from McDonald's. 'McDonald's has lost that perception of representing value,' says Weick. 'I'm continually hearing that McDonald's is losing market share because they've priced themselves out of the market; they've gotten too expensive.' The fast food market is highly sensitive to price changes, given customers constantly weigh the cost and convenience of buying takeaway. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email In the past three years, McDonald's has lifted the price of a pack of six nuggets by about 22% to above $8. The price of a small Big Mac meal is now more than $12, while a larger meal deal can cost more than $15 for some of the bigger burger varieties. The question for Australian consumers is whether the narrowing price differential between a McDonald's meal and a more premium offering, such as a sub-$20 burger meal at Middle Eastern-style chicken chain El Jannah, is enough to get them to the golden arches. Research from Sydney-based Fonto shows that McDonald's consistently underperforms on customer satisfaction when compared with other brands. 'There is definitely a preference for those alternatives, particularly as the gap in cost for those meals reduces,' says the Fonto chief executive, Ben Dixon. 'McDonald's has the least satisfaction of the major brands and this is mostly around the price people pay for what they are getting.' It's not all bad news for McDonald's. Fonto's research shows customers still value convenience, something that McDonald's excels in. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The chain, which opened its first Australian store in 1971 in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona, has expanded to more than 1,050 locations across the country, second only to Subway, according to researcher GapMaps. The McDonald's global chief financial officer, Ian Borden, told analysts earlier this month that the chain was making progress in Australia in the face of declining sector-wide traffic, and that the company was looking forward to seeing momentum build. Its Australian business is relying in part on its 'loose change menu' to bring customers back during a cost-of-living crisis. It has found success in Canada by offering a C$1 coffee. McDonald's Australia and its US corporate headquarters did not respond to questions. The sluggish appetite for McDonald's is not evident in the company's US stock price, which is trading near record highs. But it's likely a different story for its franchisees, who pay significant sums to operate the restaurants with the hope of tapping into its long-term success. Fast food stores have been treading a fine line between raising menu prices to retain or increase profit margins in response to higher costs, and trying not to put off price-conscious customers. When KFC, which has a strategy of undercutting McDonald's on price, found Australian customers weren't happy with some of its own price increases, it quickly tried to regain trust by unveiling value deals for lunch and dinner. After a prolonged period of fast-rising living costs, there are early signs that households are getting on top of their finances as the pace of inflation eases. Weick says further interest rate cuts would also help consumers, especially those in the 'mortgage belt' who are among the most frequent visitors to fast food outlets. He says there is still a question over whether McDonald's will share in that recovery, or lose further ground to rivals. 'The sector is not shooting the lights out at the moment, but there's a feeling it has bottomed and there's improvement,' says Weick. 'But I don't think the recovery will be uniform.'
AU Financial Review
06-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Magellan veteran Nikki Thomas has one eye on the chopper
Hamish Douglass barging into the 2025 discourse like the Kool Aid man is a fun turn. His torturous exit from Magellan came amid a remarkable multi-year, many-billion dollar decline at the ASX-listed fund manager. But the Maccas-eating planker has returned. He popped up at The Australian bragging about his stake in Guzman y Gomez in February. On Monday, there he was in this masthead talking up his investment in MotorCycle Holdings, the country's largest motorcycle seller.
Sydney Morning Herald
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
How UberEats killed the democracy sausage
Call me a wonk, a nerd, a bore, but I love election day. The sense of anticipation around who will emerge victorious, the atmosphere on the polling booths, the new trend of doggy bandanas spruiking candidates and, of course, the quintessential election day sausage sizzle. Yet, I fear I am an outlier, based on early voting numbers ahead of Saturday's election. By close of business on Tuesday, just over 4 million Australians had already cast their vote, almost 800,000 more than at the same point in the 2022 campaign. And all without a sausage touching a barbecue. There is apathy towards politics, no doubt, and this election campaign has been far from inspiring. But is the democracy sausage being replaced by UberEats? Is convenience now more important than the time-honoured tradition of turning out en masse on a single day with our fellow Australians and exercising our democratic right? Yes, there needs to be flexibility for those groups who need it but early voting has gone too far. Too many people are doing it for ease rather than out of necessity. Once there was the camaraderie of turning out on election day, buying a sausage to support your local school's P&C and carrying out your civic duty. Now, rather than embracing the day, voters are schlepping to the 500 early polling centres across the country and casting their ballot early, often before final policies are even released. Jim Reed, the director of Resolve Strategic which conducts exclusive surveys for this masthead, summed it up perfectly when I asked him for his thoughts on this rise in early voting. 'The sausage sizzle has given way to Guzman y Gomez on UberEats the week before.' Reed says there is nothing peculiar about this election. 'Early voting has been rising at federal and state elections for some years,' says Reed, 'so I don't think it reflects a particular outcome. It's more about convenience. During COVID we got used to the convenience of WFH, Deliveroo, telehealth, and voting early is convenient for a lot of people. It'll likely rise again this time, but the blitzkrieg of votes last week was more about the [Easter and Anzac Day] holidays meaning more people at home with free time.' Despite making it easier than ever for people to vote, turnout has been steadily decreasing since 2007 in Australia. For the first time since compulsory voting was introduced for the 1925 federal election, turnout fell below 90 per cent at the last general election.
