{"id":252781,"date":"2024-08-09T10:47:33","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T10:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/09\/shocker-mcdonalds-to-close-at-the-d-heres-why-its-a-big-deal\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:12:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:12:40","slug":"shocker-mcdonalds-to-close-at-the-d-heres-why-its-a-big-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/09\/shocker-mcdonalds-to-close-at-the-d-heres-why-its-a-big-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Shocker: McDonald&#8217;s to Close at The D, Here&#8217;s Why It&#8217;s a Big Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-info-panel\">\n<div class=\"post-info-panel__author-holder\">\n<div class=\"post-info-panel__author-logo\">\n                                                                                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/all-about-us\"><br \/>\n                                                        <img alt=\"Scott Roeben\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/author-logo-lg-88x88.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/author-logo-lg-176x176.png 2x\" class=\"avatar avatar-88 photo\" height=\"88\" width=\"88\" decoding=\"async\"\/>                                                    <\/a>\n                                                                                            <\/div>\n<div class=\"post-info-panel__author-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"post-info-panel__author-content\">\n                                            <span class=\"post-info-panel__title\"><br \/>\n                                                                                                    By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/all-about-us\" class=\"post-info-panel__link\">Scott Roeben<\/a>, on August 09 2024                                                                                            <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The infamous McDonald\u2019s at The D in downtown Las Vegas is set to close Aug. 25, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The closure of a fast food restaurant wouldn\u2019t typically warrant a story on a blog of this undeniable magnificence, but the shuttering of this particular McDonald\u2019s is newsworthy for reasons you won\u2019t get from those shitheads at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sorry, we\u2019re still agog at their overt and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/VitalVegas\/status\/1821706569693974692\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shameless theft<\/a> of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/rio-rebound-hits-snag-30-manager-level-staffers-laid-off\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">story about layoffs<\/a> at Rio. And a million other scoops over the years.<\/p>\n<p>Essentially, The D has bought out the McDonald\u2019s lease. We haven\u2019t heard an exact number, but understand it\u2019s really, really big. Cue the sad clown.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_41127\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41127\" style=\"width: 845px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-41127 size-post-thumbnail-crop-845xAUTO\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" alt=\"\" width=\"845\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sad_ronald-845x563.jpg\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-41127\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just some random clown named Ron, so our ass is totally covered legally.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For some backstory, McDonald\u2019s has been around since The D was Fitzgerald\u2019s. The restaurant, possibly in quotes, was inherited by Derek and Greg Stevens when they bought the place in 2011. Derek Stevens owns 78% of the casino, Greg Stevens owns 22%.<\/p>\n<p>The Stevens also own Circa, Golden Gate and the Downtown Events Center.<\/p>\n<p>From day one, the McDonald\u2019s at The D (just inside the casino entrance from Fremont Street and directly behind the casino\u2019s Longbar) has been a thorn in the side of The D\u2019s owners and employees.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a look inside. In the video, we say McDonald\u2019s closes in September. That\u2019s the date they have to be gone: Sep. 2, 2024. The last day to get your McCoronary or whatever is Aug. 25, 2024.<\/p>\n<div class=\"arve\" data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-h4kjg7ge1si66b5f3c505b4c638588928\" style=\"max-width:900px;\">\n<span class=\"arve-inner\"><br \/><span class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 500 \/ 281\"><br \/><span class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"\/><iframe allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" data-arve=\"arve-youtube-h4kjg7ge1si66b5f3c505b4c638588928\" data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/H4kJg7ge1sI?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/H4kJg7ge1sI?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" width=\"900\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This McDonald\u2019s has been a magnet for vagrants and panhandlers and tweakers (and others with substance abuse or mental health challenges) and the domicile-challenged and an often seedy element. And us when we\u2019re hangry, but mostly those other people.<\/p>\n<p>The McDonald\u2019s at The D is corporate owned, which means they pretty much grind out as much profit as possible with little attention to quality or service, and give exactly zero thought to augmenting the casino guest experience. It\u2019s all take, zero give.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_41129\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41129\" style=\"width: 845px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-41129 size-post-thumbnail-crop-845xAUTO\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" alt=\"\" width=\"845\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/mc_donalds_the_d_closed-845x563.jpg\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-41129\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The McDonald\u2019s lease was signed during a different era of downtown. A stickier and smellier time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Vagrants and others use the McDonald\u2019s as a way to enter the casino when they\u2019d typically be kicked out.<\/p>\n<p>We actually heard one particularly charming street person (with B.O. that could peel paint, apparently) told an executive at The D while standing just inside the entrance to McDonald\u2019s, \u201cI\u2019m allowed to be here, I have money.\u201d There was also an f-bomb between each of the words in that quote. The individual had three giant bags of personal possessions with him, contents unknown.<\/p>\n<p>While one can certainly feel compassion for someone down on their luck, one can also sympathize with a casino trying to create a positive experience for their customers, which doesn\u2019t typically include threatening behavior, obscenities, soiled clothing or a wide variety of bodily odors.<\/p>\n<p>The desire to kick this McDonald\u2019s to the curb has been talked about for years, but the lease seemed unbreakable, stretching into the future for decades.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, a deal was reached, with many terms of the agreement confidential.<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned, this McDonald\u2019s is contractually obligated to get out by Sep. 2, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. The restaurant decided to pull the plug early, and has already absorbed some of the employees into other locations, we\u2019re told.<\/p>\n<p>The McDonald\u2019s team member who told us about the closing date of Aug. 25, 2024 seemed resigned to his fate.<\/p>\n<p>During our visit, we paused our dogged investigative journalism to have a final ice cream cone.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_41125\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41125\" style=\"width: 845px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-41125 size-post-thumbnail-crop-845xAUTO\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" alt=\"\" width=\"845\" height=\"1122\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/mcd_cone-845x1122.jpg\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-41125\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yes, Lappert\u2019s at The Cal is better, but it\u2019s rarely closer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If this whole scenario sounds familiar, it\u2019s because Plaza recently booted its McDonald\u2019s as well, for many of the same reasons The D wanted the store out.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">McDonald&#8217;s is done at Plaza. &#8220;Sonofa!&#8221; ~The D <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bDqiW9vGrK\">https:\/\/t.co\/bDqiW9vGrK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VitalVegas\/status\/1736916737889829080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 19, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While a McDonald\u2019s can draw foot traffic to a venue, that traffic doesn\u2019t translate into a desirable customer for the casino.<\/p>\n<p>The McDonald\u2019s at Plaza had a lot of patrons who just got off the bus at the now-closed Greyhound bus station a few feet away. We are not judging people who take busses, at all. Buses do, however, sometimes transport questionable characters. They would often make a beeline to the McDonald\u2019s. It also attracted transients, along with those recently released from the Clark County Detention Center. It\u2019s less than two blocks from Fremont Street. Good times, and awkward, so nobody really talks about it for fear of cancellation.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, we\u2019re saying all this in as diplomatic a way as possible, but downtown has a lot of challenges. We are a longtime bleeding heart, and homeless advocate. We used to take <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/lvshooter\/albums\/72157609772389878\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">portraits of the homeless<\/a> to raise awareness of their plight on and around Fremont Street. We clench when people sometimes call these folks \u201cbums.\u201d The fact is we aren\u2019t doing enough to help, on the city, county or federal level. That doesn\u2019t change the fact the homeless don\u2019t make places like Fremont Street better. They sometimes make a visit more memorable, but not in a good way. We have the luxury of compassion because we don\u2019t have any skin in the game. We don\u2019t have millions of dollars invested in a casino or payroll to make.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_41128\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41128\" style=\"width: 845px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-41128 size-post-thumbnail-crop-845xAUTO\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" alt=\"\" width=\"845\" height=\"1122\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fremont_homeless-845x1122.jpg\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-41128\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">These portraits of the homeless on Fremont Street were taken in 2009, back when \u201cvirtue signaling\u201d was just, you know, virtue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Law enforcement and our elected officials (such as our City of Las Vegas Councilpersons) often don\u2019t do a great job of helping businesses deal with their various headaches. Whenever ordinances are proposed to help alleviate some of the problems, the ACLU jumps in and reminds everyone Fremont Street is a public street and panhandling is a First Amendment right of some sort. You won\u2019t find the homeless or tweakers or convicts roaming The Park or Linq promenade on The Strip, they\u2019re private property. Security and law enforcement can show people the figurative door as they see fit, and the operators can do quality control on any buskers. Downtown, casinos only control who\u2019s on the stages. The buskers enter a lottery for performance circles on the street, and there\u2019s zero quality control.<\/p>\n<p>An important aside: Please don\u2019t let your kids take photos with costumed characters. That\u2019s all we\u2019re going to say about that. Also beware of the showgirl photo ops. They can\u2019t legally charge you for a photo, but they certainly make the completely voluntary tips sound required. Tip $5 and keep moving.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion about what we\u2019re collectively doing (or not) for the poor and mentally ill is complicated and nuanced, so we definitely aren\u2019t interested in stepping into that minefield. We are a humor-based blog, in case that were not evident based upon, you know, the lack of things you find humorous.<\/p>\n<p>We tend to lean toward the position of downtown casinos (we worked in digital marketing at Fremont Street Experience, the marketing arm of the casinos along Fremont Street): They pay the lion\u2019s share of what makes Fremont Street unique and popular (including maintenance, security and live entertainment, etc.), they should be able to operate their businesses without being hamstrung. That includes flexibility and leeway in dealing with the homeless, people with substance abuse and mental health issues, and buskers banging on pickle drums or weaving palm fronds outside their doors.<\/p>\n<p>There are plenty of other places to take care of your drunchies on Fremont Street. The D will now, at long last, be free of McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>We asked Derek Stevens to comment on this story, but he declined. That has non-disparagement clause written all over it, but we will accommodate his \u201cno comment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody really has to make a statement. You just have to watch how many times a night the bartenders at Longbar have to tell drunk people they can\u2019t eat their McDonald\u2019s meal at the bar.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll keep digging to try and find out how much this lease buy-out cost, but we\u2019re pretty sure it was about as much as The D cost. It means that much to have it gone.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll also keep poking to try and find out what The D will do with the McDonald\u2019s space once it\u2019s vacant. It\u2019s oddly positioned, and has weird glass windows that don\u2019t really fit with a casino\u2019s mojo. (Casinos often don\u2019t have windows so patrons presumably will lose track of time. It\u2019s probably a myth now, but that was always a fun yarn.)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_41126\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41126\" style=\"width: 845px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-41126 size-post-thumbnail-crop-845xAUTO\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" alt=\"\" width=\"845\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/the_d_closed_mcdonalds-845x563.jpg\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-41126\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Weird space, but we trust Derek Stevens already has 415 ideas for what\u2019s next.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We\u2019re pretty sure the area will be reclaimed and be an expansion of the casino, just as La Bayou was acquired and became a part of Golden Gate.<\/p>\n<p>Or Longbar could just wrap around the wall and be rebranded Longerbar. We should probably put a \u201cTM\u201d after that, but we give our genius freely when it comes to making our favorite places better.<\/p>\n<p>The more video poker the better, we say.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/historiclasvegasproject.com\/The-D-Las-Vegas-Casino-Hotel.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">some history<\/a> about The D (formerly Sundance) and the McDonald\u2019s that became part of Fitzgerald\u2019s in the 1990s. They were probably annoyed by it as well.<\/p>\n<p>We will miss our occasional McDonald\u2019s cones, but the closure of the McDonald\u2019s at The D is far more important than our own personal indulgences. Especially because Derek and Greg Stevens can now revel in their longtime dream of being free of the yoke of the once-revered McDonald\u2019s brand, despite the fact we\u2019re pretty sure Greg Stevens is in physical pain at seeing how much this is going to cost. (He mostly works in Detroit, so he doesn\u2019t see all the colorful characters\/asshats every day as Derek Stevens and his team do.)<\/p>\n<p>If the Stevens go with another restaurant in the McDonald\u2019s space at The D, we\u2019re up for that, too. Just not sushi, please. Sushi is weird and also attracts an undesirable crowd. All due respect.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/mcdonalds-to-close-at-the-d-heres-why-its-a-big-deal\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] By Scott Roeben, on August 09 2024 The infamous McDonald\u2019s at The D in downtown Las Vegas is set to close Aug. 25, 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252781"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}