No, McDonald’s— Hauppauge is not lovin’ it.
Immediate Impact and Breakdown
McDonald’s on Route 111 has formally announced its closing at the end of this year.
“It is our deepest regret and with heavy hearts to inform you that on 12/31/2022, our beloved Hauppauge McDonald’s will be serving its last hamburger and its last order of fries,” the announcement read.
It continues, “the decision to close was not an easy one. We have proudly served this community for almost 50 years. We would like to thank all the customers that have patronized and frequented Hauppauge McDonald’s. We have enjoyed forging relationships with all of you. We could not have been as successful as we were without your support and loyalty. We would also like to thank our employees over the years that breathed life into our company and decided this was the place they wanted to work. It has been a wonderful journey. It has been our pleasure to serve you.”
With 239 restaurants closing in 2021, some may wager the world’s most popular restaurant experiencing foreclosures is a sign of tough times for them internally. However, it’s actually quite the opposite.
By shrinking its footprint, McDonald’s targets customers who are willing to spend more money per restaurant visit. Therefore, the less accessible a McDonald’s location is to a customer, the more money they are willing to spend when they finally reach one, according to Restaurant Business and eatthis.com.
In addition to not being as abundant, McDonald’s as a franchise will now offer premium menu selections, including new chicken sandwiches, and will raise prices to cover extra expenses such as labor and product costs.
This sales model has increased overall sales for the chain. And while it’s great for their business as a whole, frequenters within the hamlet of Hauppauge and the townships it belongs to, Smithtown and Islip, do not feel as though they caught a break upon learning the news.
“Wow. What a tragic sign of the times. Your neighborhood McDonald’s of 50 years is closing,” one woman wrote in the Smithtown Moms Facebook group.
Another member exclaimed, “I’m so sad!! I worked here in the 90s and made great friends for life!!”
Saddened members of the impacted districts can only speculate why their McDonald’s is now on the outs. Rumors have begun to circulate that more condominiums are coming to the area, that Northwell Health has zeroed in on the property, or perhaps even Rt. 111’s Starbucks is in jeopardy as well. Not to mention, Wendy’s…
These are all unconfirmed reports, as of now. Nevertheless, they point to a bleak but harsh reality: that “restaurant row,” save for the relentlessness — God-willing — of Branchinelli’s Pizzeria, is no more.
The area, just north of Route 347, is home to a string of other notable businesses that have vacated over the years. From its beloved-to-bankrupt Blockbuster Video, a popular physical therapy office, the Burger King, and now “Mickey D’s” itself.
So Long, McDonald’s of Hauppauge, but Nostalgia Stands the Test of Time
McDonald’s of Hauppauge elected not to provide comment to The Messenger, but many townsfolk sure did.
“They hadn’t changed the decor in that place in 50 years either,” Herb Dawson, of Smithtown, said. “You stepped back in time at that location for sure. That area has become a ghost town / graveyard of what used to be.”
Beth Erdmann, a Hauppauge native currently residing in Mount Sinai, had her 10th birthday at the location in 1985. “I just remember I really wanted my birthday there because that’s where everyone was having it at that time,” she said.
“It wasn’t that big a deal in terms of what people do now for kids’ parties. You got a Happy Meal and cake, and played games. No play area!”
The location’s play area soon arrived to entertain many successive generations also privy to an ever-evolving menu. Millennials and select Generation Z-ers can even recall “that magic feeling” of receiving direct-to-VHS – remember those? – Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald tapes at the ba da ba ba palace once upon a time.
This short-lived collection of most nostalgic relics, lost somewhere in time between Batman Forever mugs, Mulan (and Rick and Morty, retroactively)-certified Szechuan Sauce and Attack of the Clones action figures, accompanied purchases of a small Vanilla ice cream cone or a diet coke at McDonald’s of Hauppauge, and most McDonald’s restaurants, at the turn of the 21st century. The 1998-born six-part saga grew so popular that many locations began to run out of tapes until the restaurant discontinued them altogether in 2003.
But, like Jonah Hill would come to accurately quip in Superbad, “people don’t forget.”
“Those films were priceless,” one Islip native, 26, recalled. “Especially since our parents were the ones who paid for them. They looked like the Killer R’s– Rocket Power, Rugrats and Recess [the former two produced by the same animation company, Klasky/Csupo], but felt like Star Wars adventures for kids who were on the cusp of graduating from cartoons to live-action, or Happy Meals to ‘number 2’s,’ if you will.”
Others who came of age after Hauppauge School District had already closed its campuses for lunchtime recalled the 111 McDonald’s, which was a short dash across Townline Road away from their schools, represented a rite of passage of sorts. When students reached Middle School and High School, it was high time to rally an on-foot convoy together and walk to McDonald’s after 9th period all on your own.
“We felt like Kings,” one Hauppauge class of 2012 graduate said. “Kings without crowns, you went across the street to Burger King – R.I.P – for those.”
Said a Hauppauge ’11 alum, Gary Baker, 29: “It’s nuts to think that all of the Restaurants on 111 might actually go away soon. I’m praying to God Wendy’s doesn’t close over there anytime soon. That’s my go-to since I live right over there.” He adds, “I remember when it was written in our agenda books that if we went to restaurant row after school, we weren’t allowed to go back and grab a bus home. But we all did anyway.”
Hollywood has done an adequate job of immortalizing the All-American original McDonald’s style long before its alarmingly consistent burgers gained one helluva-stacked backing band. The Founder, written by former The Onion Editor-in-Chief and The Wrestler (2008) scribe Robert D. Siegel, stars Michael Keaton in a milkshake powder-ized “Social Network lite” about all things emphatic real-life franchiser, Ray Kroc. The film, currently streaming on Freevee and Tubi, answers real estate FAQs for charged-up readers further interested in exactly why a McDonald’s appears in your town, why it leaves, and how.
Until answers on the hyperlocal front are known beyond mere contemplation, McMelancholy residents and holiday-returnees alike only have but one option: to not pout because it’s over.
Rather, they should smile because it happened, compose themselves, and then promptly make like Adam Sandler in Big Daddy. To paraphrase the 2022 Mark Twain Award Winner for Humor, “get your former kid-selves a Happy Meal!”
Or a 10-piece Chicken McNugget, Big Mac, McGriddle, Iced Coffee or Oreo McFlurry—wow, these will all be missed every time you drive down and see yet another boarded-up store en route to Smithtown Bypass (but the left turn you couldn’t legally make out of there won’t be).
“It’s a shame,” Erdman added. “Really, it’s the only ‘town’ part of Hauppauge.”
Readers, have no fear, though: alternatives close to Hauppauge’s departing one are not too far of a haul. St. James’ Middle Country Road location and Central Islip’s West Suffolk Avenue, train station-adjacent location stand at 3.4 and 3.5 miles away, respectively.
Maybe these aren’t the closest McDonald’s’ to home. But when you look for the arches, you’ll still see them-– on visitable storefronts remaining and on strolls down Memory Lane that can never be taken away.
