McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell Add To Fast Food Value Deals

USA Today:

Fast food’s sales hook in 2010 will be just two words: Eat cheap.

Many big names in fast food are rolling out products geared to drag in slow-to-spend consumers. Today, McDonald’s makes official plans to nationally roll out a Dollar Breakfast Menu in January. Burger King is trying to dazzle eaters with $1 double cheeseburgers.

The moves come at a time when fast-food giants — many of which initially benefited from the financial meltdown — are seeing sales erode. As a category, fast food has faced falling sales for 28 of the past 30 weeks, reports NPD. McDonald’s on Tuesday reported its second-consecutive monthly same-store sales dip in the U.S.

“It’s a tough economic situation out there, and the fast-food pie has shrunk,” says Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a consulting firm. Because of high unemployment, he says, consumers are increasingly hitting grocery stores and “turning on their ovens again.”