McDonald’s Helensvale: Remarkable story of restaurant’s early days

It’s now one of the busiest spots on the M1. But just thirty years ago things were very different. SEE THE PHOTOS

It is one of the Gold Coast’s busiest restaurants, serving 190,000 coffees and 95,000 cheeseburgers in just 12 months.

But the man behind the Helensvale McDonald’s says it was a very different story when the pioneering Siganto Dr outlet opened on September 1, 1992.

Not everyone was convinced it would do enough business to survive.

“Thirty years ago there was nothing around here,” franchisee Michael Power says.

“There was the Ampol and after that there was nothing.

“When they (McDonald’s) looked at it the highway wasn’t done. So it was a bit of a gamble. They’d never done a highway store. But I said ‘OK, I’ll have a go at this’.”

Mr Power, who has worked all his life at McDonald’s since beginning as a crew person in 1976, drove to Helensvale with wife Deanna, surveying the empty surrounds from what was to become their restaurant’s car park.

“I wanted to become an operator,” he said. “I was the training manager for Sydney and Queensland.

“I could see what stores were coming up and it was either Warwick or here. They said, ‘go and look at Helensvale’. So I came up here and Deanna and I sat in the car park with the market manager.

“And he goes, well we can find 9500 or 10,000 people in the surrounding area. In those days you needed 13,000 for a store to work.

“I looked at the numbers, how many people here and the highway count and I said ‘OK, that’ll work’.

“But it was a big gamble taking this store on because it was the first of its kind. They’d never done highway sites.”

Michael Power, who owns five McDonald's restaurants on the northern Gold Coast, at the Siganto Drive, Helensvale outlet, with his wife Deanna Power and staff, including Wendy Booker, celebrating 30 years in business. Picture: Jerad Williams.

It was a gamble that paid off. The Helensvale restaurant, which celebrated 30 years in business on Thursday, not only survived but thrived to the point that it now sells 190,000 McCafe coffees, 53,000 Big Macs and 95,000 cheeseburgers a year.

Mr Power also owns McDonald’s outlets at BP Coomera, Upper Coomera, Oxenford and Pimpama, and a sixth is due to open at Foxwell Rd in Coomera in December.

His five existing outlets employ about 650 people.

Michael Power owns five McDonald's restaurants on the northern Gold Coast. Picture: Jerad Williams.

Mr Power said there had been many changes during his 30 years running the restaurants, but three really stood out.

“Coffee was the biggest,” he said. “It happened basically a year after we opened. (Former president and CEO) Charlie Bell decided we need to get into coffee. We were doing dollar cappuccino in Melbourne, where it started.

“.... And then when the company said, ‘we’re going to do McCafes properly’, that’s when we rolled them out.

“... I think over those 30 years this has probably been the most significant development for McDonald’s and growing our business.

The McDonald's on Siganto Drive under construction in 1992.

“... And then drive through. I think the significance of drive through (has grown) over the years.

“We used to have like two windows and then we’ve ended up with three windows. So drive through accounts for 75, 80 per cent of our business.

“The other significant development is delivery.

“It’s very significant, but it depends on the store. BP not that much, but Pimpama, very, very busy.”

Staff at the Helensvale McDonald's on Siganto Drive on its opening day on September 1, 1992.

Pimpama, open six years and employing 180 staff, is the busiest of Mr Power’s five restaurants.

The slab at the Foxwell Rd eatery was poured on Tuesday and the march through the northern Gold Coast is unlikely to stop there.

“So McDonald’s is always looking at where is next,” Mr Power said. “We all know that Pimpama is a growth area. So yes, they’re looking at another site at Pimpama. They’re always looking for new opportunities.”

The Helensvale McDonald's seen from the M1 after it opened in 1992.

But Helensvale is where it all started for Mr Power as a franchisee.

He is proud of the fact that the store not only has regulars who have been coming in since it opened, but even an employee, Wendy Booker, who has been with them since day one.

“You just get to know your locals. And Wendy’s been with me 30 years, she’s an original employee.

“They’ve been with me all that time.

“Without our people, we wouldn’t survive.”

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Originally published as McDonald’s Helensvale: Remarkable story of restaurant’s early days