MCD corporation is franchised out like most are, I believe the corp does own some stores but most of the individual stores are locally owned. You come up with one million bucks and you can own one, most of the stores make money, but like in anything, poor management and poor location means taking a loss. Starbucks has very tight controls and is one of the few that have extremely tight franchises allowed like Barnes and Noble.
I seldom buy any stock that doesn't have dividends, they pay more than banks. And make a little more if they go up and of course the option plays.