McDonald's marks reopening with McCocktails

LACONIA — Peter and Sal Napoli, the father and son team who own and operate McDonald's on Union Avenue marked the reopening of the restaurant by treating invited guests to a mix of cocktails and charity to the theme of the Bob Dylan classic "Forever Young."

The new restaurant is built on the parking lot site of the original, which was opened by Peter Napoli in 1971, when he was just 21 and his son was just born. It represents the next generation of McDonald's, featuring an contemporary decor to match a fresh menu aimed at mature tastes. "We're going after the Ninety-Nines, Panera Bread, and Applebees," said Peter Napoli, pointing to the one-third of a pound Angus Burger selling for $3.99 as an example of "more upscale food at more reasonable prices."

With two lanes side-by-side, the new store has twice the drive-through capacity of its predecessor to cater to as many two out of three customers who never leave their cars on a given day. Gone is the "Playplace," which Napoli said was something that customer surveys indicated was unwanted and unnecessary. He said he expected the new restaurant would draw more customers and anticipated adding "at least 10 part-time and full-time employees" to the payroll.

To celebrate the reopening of the store, the Napolis made generous contributions to the Elm Street School and the Boys & Girls Club of the Lakes Region in keeping with Dylan's lyric — "May you always do for others/And let others do for you/May you build a ladder to the stars/And climb on every rung/May you stay forever young." In addition, 10-percent of proceeds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be donated to the Elm Street School.

Forever young after 39 years on Union Avenue, McDonald's reopened to the public at 5 a.m. this morning.

CAPTION

Sal Napoli (left) and his father Peter (right), owners of McDonald's on Union Avenue, present a check to David Parker, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of the Lakes Region and Jenny Pappas, the club's operations director, to commenorate the opening of the new restaurant. (Laconia Daily Sun Photo/ Michael Kitch)