Fast food pushing late night

Midnight to 5 a.m. is the fastest growing time segment for U.S. sales at McDonald's, which helps explain why nearly 40 percent of the company's U.S. outlets are open around the clock. Burger King has several hundred of its stores open 24 hours a day. From the WSJ:

Pat Treffiletti, a franchisee who owns four McDonald's in Albany, N.Y., was taken aback when a student in a college class he addressed a few years ago asked him why he couldn't get a Big Mac at 3 a.m. "I said it's because we're not open," he responded. He decided to see if there was any reason to be open at that hour, so he drove around the city late at night and was surprised by how much traffic he saw on the streets. Health-care centers were open late and delivery drivers were dropping off goods at stores. "I started talking to my customers and they said they'd love it if we'd be open late. Customers' lifestyle patterns have changed dramatically. Years ago, convenience was about having the right location. Now it's a lot more than that," he says.

Starbucks, which sees much of its business drop off after 2 p.m. is trying to generate more traffic by selling beer and wine in a few of its locations (including several in the L.A. area). It's definitely a talker, at least judging from a segment on Patt Morrison's show, though unlike the McDonald's and BK efforts, selling alcohol at a coffee house seems a bit gimmicky. Of course, if the stores are already open, there's not much downside.