About this question
Medium · Mental Math & Estimation · Quant Trader interview question · fermi-problems, market-sizing, real-estate, retail-footprint, supply-and-demand
You are analyzing the retail saturation of a potential new QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) franchise for a private equity firm. To benchmark the upper limit of saturation, you need to estimate the footprint of the most ubiquitous burger chain in the country. The Question: Estimate the approximate number of McDonald's locations currently operating in the United States. Assumptions: US Population $\approx 335,000,000$. Think about the "Population per Store" ratio required to sustain a franchise.