At the close of 2015, the McDonald’s in Canton permanently closed their doors. It has been a fixture on Main Street for 37 years.
Immediate plans are not in place to replace the store. McDonald’s announced that they are not planning on building anywhere else in town. The McDonald’s corporation is closing 700 stores worldwide due to poor profits in these areas.
The store employed 40 people in Canton, all who were offered work positions in other stores across the North Country. This doesn’t help the Canton economy though, as the revenue and wages that were generated by McDonald’s are now more likely to move outside the community.
It is still very unclear what will happen to the plot of land occupied by the restaurant – whether it will simply become a parking lot or if it will become occupied by another diner. 40 years ago, before the McDonald’s chain bought the charter for the land, the Canton Diner inhabited the space. Locals remember this diner with nostalgia.
There are other food options in the area, with the Hot Tamale and Sergi’s across the street, and The Bagelry, Blackbird, and the new establishment, Buster’s, just up the road. While there are still all these options, for many, none of them qualify in the same category as McDonald’s.
Many students are having mixed emotions about the “de- arching” of the local fast food chain.
“I never went to the McDonald’s on Main Street,” said Kelsey Card ’17. “But now that it is closed, I really want to go.”
It is true that McDonald’s was not a common late night-post bar stop for many Laurentians, but it was always there for those times when cravings struck. Now, that craving will have to be fulfilled by driving to Ogdensburg or Potsdam.
“By closing this McDonald’s, they are killing my normal diet regime,” said Jack Lyons ’17. “Or rather helping it I guess, either way, I will miss it.”