McDonald’s tests Dollar Menu & More to replace Dollar Menu

The days of McDonald's Dollar Menu may be numbered, as the fast-food giant struggles to keep up sales in a ruthlessly competitive environment, USA Today reports. The company said it was testing a radically different version of the Dollar Menu – named Dollar Menu & More that sold an array of items at $1, $2 and even the so-called shareable items such as 20-piece boxes of McNuggets at $5, the report said.

According to Neil Golden, chief marketing officer at McDonald's, a national relaunch of a revised Dollar Menu could come "later this year."

Golden said while no official changes had been made to its current Dollar Menu, the company continued to evaluate and test the best value options.

New items on the expanded bargain menu, under test would include just about everything from new single burgers to double-patty and deluxe burgers, as also additional chicken options.

According to commentators, for McDonald's - and most of the fast food industry - all it all boiled down to was devising ways to get people spend more in harsh economic times.

Earlier this year, Wendy's after changing its bargain menu, renamed it Right Price Right Size. The changed menu had six items at 99 cents each and eight others below $2, according to Wendy's spokesman Denny Lynch. Currently, Wendy's was promoting a limited-time Monterey Ranch Crispy chicken sandwich at 99 cents.

Meanwhile, according to McDonald's Corp, a revamped version of its Dollar Menu, that included items priced at $5, could be launched nationally this year, the Associated Press reports.

The company said versions of its famous value menu, Dollar Menu & More, were under test in five markets across the country.

The new fare would be introduced after its attempt  last year to get customers to switch from the Dollar Menu to a pricier ''Extra Value Menu,'' which featured items costing closer to $2 received little response. But, even with sales slacking, the company went back to aggressively pitching Dollar Menu in TV ads.

Once the new ''Dollar Menu & More'' rolls out, the Extra Value Menu would be retired.