McDonald’s: 1st ever “Barrier-Free” Restaurant in the World

A friend of mine Mr.Abdullah Al-Mansour, enlightened me/gave me new information, about a matter that is very very dear to me.

I never knew McDonald’s had a full fledge branch specially made for the physically disabled. Abdullah told me that this project was up and running since October 2009. I recently knew about it and will definitely visit them soon.

Its honestly beautiful to see such actions given on a scale like this. Pretty refreshing indeed.

Its never too late to say THANK YOU McDonald’s !!

If your interested to know more read below.

McDonald’s Kuwait hosted the grand opening of their first barrier-free restaurant in Al Sharq Cooperative Society and Dasman on Monday, October 19^th 2009.  The restaurant is a gift from McDonald’s to the special needs community of Kuwait, after 15 years of being an active member of the community.  The large event was officially inaugurated by Sheika Fareeha Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah who cut the ribbon at the event that was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, McDonald’s Kuwait president and board members, chairman of The Kuwaiti Society for Guardians of the Disabled, many Kuwaiti special needs organizations and members of the local and international press.

“After 15 years of operations in the country, we wanted to give something special to our local community,” said Tareq Al-Maousherji, McDonald’s Kuwait board member: “This restaurant represents a dream for us, after 4 years of work, and countless obstacles, we are proud to see this unique project through to its final completion” he continued.

The term “barrier-free” refers to designing facilities that provide easy access to people who are physically disadvantaged or disabled. Although most McDonald’s stores in Kuwait (and around the world) are already handicap-accessible, none of them have been designed specifically for the physically disabled.

The store, which is located in the Sharq Coop, has many unique amenities, including lower countertops individuals in wheel chairs to order with ease, large spacious isles, an elevator, washrooms with grab bars, movable chairs and tables etc.  Even the famous McDonald’s “PlayPlace” has been replaced by sit-down video game terminals, to provide entertainment for physically disadvantaged children.

The 480 sq meter store (285 sq meter net), would normally house a seating capacity for 150 pax, however, given the extra space and elements that we incorporated into making 100% of the store accessible, only 96 seats were installed.

McDonald’s has not only built a store for the special needs community to go to, but they have also opened their doors for them to work.  With the help of The Kuwaiti Society for Guardians of the Disabled, 3 Kuwaitis have been recruited and are already working in the store.

Hoping that more companies will follow suit, Tareq Al-Maousherji said:

“This store represents our gift to Kuwait.  It is a symbol of our non-stop dedication to this community.  It reflects at the same time McDonald’s promise of always introducing and forward-thinking and progressive facilities as well as high quality products.”

He continued: “We can only hope that more companies will begin to take the same measures and offer the same facilities as well as opportunities to all of our children – regardless of their physical or mental shortcomings.”

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