To make its uniforms more appealing to employees, QSR king McDonald's is preparingto invest $80 million in new duds that could put employees on People magazine'sBest-Dressed List.

A report in Advertising Age says the chain has had serious discussionswith design moguls Russell Simmons, P. Diddy and Tommy Hilfiger, among others,to develop uniforms that riff on company founder Ray Kroc's original versions.

The idea, apparently, is not only to make employees more comfortable wearingMcDonald's "threads," but also to transform legions of fry slingers (including30,000 that classify as young adults) into "walking billboards" to promote theMickey D's brand. This approach, however, is by no means new. Hotels and airlineshave been hiring A-list fashion designers to create their uniforms for years.

Uniforms are representations of a retailer's brand. And in the conveniencestore space, some operators remain " ununiformed." For retailers still on thefence or those pondering an upgrade, three primary areas must be consideredwhen making a selection, according to Bob Isaacson, director of marketing forUniFirst Corp. (www.unifirst.com):function, comfort and durability