July 15, 2024

Around-the-clock McDonald’s hours are back.

The restaurant has returned to 24-hour days Tuesday through Saturday at two Sioux Falls locations: 3200 S. Minnesota Ave. and 2416 W. 12th St.

It’s the first time since 2020 for McDonald’s continual hours after they were discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our consumers’ habits have been kind of getting back to normal, so we’ve been seeing later sales — 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m. — so we’ve been seeing that pick up, and a lot of our decisions are based on what our consumers are telling us,” said Jordan Hartshorn, local owner and operator of McDonald’s in eastern South Dakota.

Staffing also has rebounded, he said, adding it took only a couple of weeks to get a team together that was willing to work overnight.

“Knock on wood, we haven’t experienced any staffing issues, and the sales are there,” he said. “I think it’s getting the word out and spreading the news.”

There also aren’t many competitors offering overnight food service, “so it’s kind of an untapped market again, and that’s exciting to us,” Hartshorn said.

“Not only that, but the other feature that has been awesome is DoorDash. Pre-COVID, DoorDash was a smaller percentage of our overall sales, and today it’s a good chunk of our total day sales, and overnight gives that flexibility. When we’re getting orders at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., it can be clientele that isn’t able to drive, so DoorDash is an awesome bridge.”

Those late-night and early morning diners tend to order a lot of McNuggets and Quarter Pounders, in case you were curious. The breakfast menu starts at 5 a.m.

McDonald’s also is offering the extended hours in Brookings and plans to add Watertown later this year.

Ultimately, Hartshorn thinks Sioux Falls could have at least four stores offering around-the-clock service.

“Geographically, we just want to hit all four corners of Sioux Falls,” he said. “We’ve worked with DoorDash to broaden the geofence of our delivery on overnights so we can accommodate more guests.”

While McDonald’s also is on Uber Eats, DoorDash accounts for most of the Sioux Falls delivery business, he said.

Keeping the restaurant open 24 hours actually is easier operationally, he said, “because they don’t have to fire the equipment up and down, it just stays going, and the closers can leave without extra duties, and for the openers it’s all ready when they come in.”

The opening for the latest Sioux Falls McDonald’s, on the northeast corner of 41st Street and Ellis Road, has been delayed slightly by weather but construction is on track for an opening sometime in September. Some staff already are hired and in training.

“I’d say we’re halfway to our target for staffing and still looking for crew and managers but happy with where we’re at and the time frame we’ve got,” Hartshorn said.