What To Make Of McDonald's Social Distancing-Themed Concept

McDonald's Corp MCD unveiled a new restaurant concept in the Netherlands that heavily focuses on social distancing, but begs the question: is this the same company investors have come to love over the years?

What Happened

McDonald's new store concept includes yellow dots on the floor to ensure adequate spacing between customers, a mandatory hand sanitizing station at the entrance, a requirement to sit at specific tables, among other features built on health and safety.

Brands like McDonald's don't benefit from pent-up demand and the new restaurant concept looks "so different" than the McDonald's consumers have gotten used to, RiskReversal Advisors Principal and "Fast Money" regular Dan Nathan said on Monday.

In fact, he's "not so certain" consumers will want to return to stores because consumers can no longer get the most bang for the buck from each purchase.

See Also: Will Consumers Return To Restaurants After Learning How To Cook At Home?

Why It's Important

From an investor perspective, Nathan said a radical redesign of stores represents a "grave" expense at a time when unemployment figures will rise.

If McDonald's decides to heavily focus on takeout and drive-thru then consumers can easily adapt and "become very used" to the changes, Nathan said.

McDonald's and other fast food chains will continue offering meals at price points that resonate well during a recessionary period but "the game has changed, unfortunately," Nathan said.