For Mary Navies, it’s about more than food.
“McDonald’s is definitely a family restaurant,” said the 56-year-old Prince George’s County resident.
Navies is the owner of seven McDonald’s franchises in the county and one of thousands of McDonald’s employees in the Washington region. A strong believer in supporting her community Navies has spent the last 15 years turning her franchises into more than just fast food restaurants.
“You’ve heard the stories about Prince George’s County, the issues we’re dealing with,” she said. “One of the things McDonald’s has done is shown me the importance of giving back.”
As a businesswoman, Navies chose McDonald’s for the opportunities the company offered. But as a mother and concerned citizen, Navies has used the McDonald’sname to launch numerous service projects and turn her restaurants into neighborhood gathering places.
Since acquiring her first franchise in 1991, Navies, her employees and her patrons have supported such causes as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Ronald McDonald House.
Navies, who says she eats McDonald’s salads nearly every day, got her start with the company about 15 years ago after a long career as a flight attendant for United Airlines. Navies decided to open her first McDonald’s on the advice of her sister, who was franchising McDonald’s restaurants in Los Angeles. As fate would have it, the first franchise Navies acquired — a location in Clinton in 1991 — was the same one she used to take her son to when he was growing up. Today she oversees seven locations and 330 employees and is on a first name basis with many of her customers.
“[My employees and customers] are like family,” Navies said. “I’ve gone to funerals of customers and births of customers.”
While Navies has been a successful franchisor, she hopes to eventually leave franchising behind to devote her time to community causes in Prince George’s County and beyond.
“Ray Croc built this business [with the philosophy] that you can’t just be on the corner, you have to be in the community,” she said. “My favorite thing about [McDonald’s] is the community service. … I want to retire and dedicate my life to service. It’s been a great ride.”
