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They'll see you smile, 'round the clock
By JON WILSON, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- Starting this week, you can get a meal all day and all night at McDonald's restaurant in the Bartlett Park neighborhood. Located for almost 15 years at 1661 Fourth St. S, McDonald's will keep its drive-through window open 24 hours, seven days a week to serve what company officials believe is a growing wee-hours customer base. The golden arches will light up as usual at 6 a.m. Monday. From then on, it will be a 24/7 operation, said Bob Conigliaro, community relations vice president of Caspers Company McDonald's Restaurants, which owns the eatery. The indoor counter will close as usual every day at 11 p.m, Conigliaro said. But the drive-through will dispense lunch and dinner items until 3 a.m., when it will begin serving items from the breakfast menu. "We're pretty much a customer-driven organization, and if we find there's a demand, we'll cater to that demand," Conigliaro said. Around-the-clock work shifts such as those at the Bayfront Medical Center complex a few blocks north look for late-night or early-morning food, he said. So do police officers and clean-up crews in downtown office buildings. The growing University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus and new student housing also is expected to provide customers. Other McDonald's in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties have 24-hour drive-through service, including one at Fourth Street N and 38th Avenue. But the Fourth Street S restaurant is the first in Pinellas owned by Caspers Company to try the format, Conigliaro said. The 24-hour operations in Hillsborough have fared well after some experienced slow starts. One of the restaurants near the University of South Florida has been open around-the-clock since 1984, Conigliaro said. The Bartlett Park McDonald's opened in June 1987.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
