Russia replaces Starbucks with Stars Coffee after exodus

Russia replaces Starbucks… with Stars Coffee! Moscow rebrands stores saying ‘bucks is gone, stars stay’ after US chain permanently quit the country over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

• Starbucks was one of many Western companies to leave Russia over Ukraine war
• Pro-Kremlin rapper Timati and Russian restaurateur Anton Pinskiy acquired Starbucks’ Russian operations in July and gave it a its new ‘Stars Coffee’ name 
• The replacement logo looks very similar to the Starbucks predecessor
• It replaces the iconic twin-tailed mermaid with a woman wearing a traditional Russian headdress, the kokoshnik. It will serve a similar selection of drinks

Russia’s successor to Starbucks – re-branded as Stars Coffee – welcomed its first visitors in Moscow on Friday after the Seattle-based coffee giant withdrew from the Russian market over Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Looking very similar to it predecessor, the logo replaces Starbuck’s iconic twin-tailed mermaid with a woman wearing a traditional Russian headdress, the kokoshnik. 

Pro-Kremlin rapper Timati and Russian restaurateur Anton Pinskiy acquired Starbucks’ Russian operations in July and gave it a new name under the slogan ‘bucks is gone, stars stay’.

‘Why STARS? The new brand unites the stars of the gastronomic industry,’ the new owners of the coffee chain said on their website which also features its new logo.

Re-branded as Stars Coffee, the successor of Starbucks welcomed its first visitors in Moscow on Friday after the coffee shop chain withdrew from the Russian market over the conflict in Ukraine. Pictured: People walk past the newly-opened Stars Coffee cafe in Moscow on Friday

Pro-Kremlin rapper Timati (pictured in Moscow on Thursday at the opening) and Russian restaurateur Anton Pinskiy acquired Starbucks’ Russian operations in July and gave it a new name under the slogan ‘bucks is gone, stars stay’

Patrons will find familiar caffeinated beverages on the menu but no Starbucks-patented Frappuccinos.

The new chain will also continue the Starbucks tradition of writing customers’ names on cups when taking their order.

Starbucks temporarily closed its 130 coffee shops in Russia at the start of Moscow’s February military intervention in Ukraine, later announcing that it will permanently leave the Russian market after nearly 15 years.

The coffee shop chain joined an exodus of brands quitting Russia over the Ukraine offensive, including fast-food giant McDonald’s that was also re-opened with a new name and logo.

The owners of Stars Coffee said that all of the chain’s locations across Russia will be opened by the end of September.

Most of them will remain coffee shops, while some will become restaurants.

They also said that some 80 percent of Starbucks’s 2,000 employees in Russia opted to stay after the change of hands. 

Employees work at the newly-opened Stars Coffee cafe in Moscow, on August 19, 2022.

A customer speaks with employees at the newly-opened Stars Coffee cafe in Moscow

Seattle-based Starbucks was one of the most visible of the wave of thousands of foreign companies that pulled out of Russia or suspended their operations in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. 

Others include McDonald’s, IKEA and fast-fashion giant H&M.

The departure of these companies was a psychological blow to Russians who had become used to the comforts of Western-style consumer culture. But Russian entrepreneurs saw opportunity in suddenly unoccupied stores.

Former McDonald’s outlets are reopening and attracting sizable crowds under the name Vkusno – i Tochka. 

Though the name doesn’t roll off the tongue easily and is a little awkward to translate (roughly: It’s Tasty – Period), the menu is a testament to imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

Seattle-based Starbucks was one of the most visible of the wave of foreign companies that pulled out of Russia or suspended their operations in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Others include McDonald’s, IKEA and fast-fashion giant H&M. Pictured: A customer is served at Moscow’s re-branded McDonald’s restaurant ‘Tasty and that’s it’

Pictured: People visit a former McDonald’s restaurant during reopening under a new brand Vkusno I Tochka, in Moscow, Russia, 12 June 2022

At a news conference Thursday, the new owners vowed to reopen all the former Starbucks under their new identity and even expand the business. 

The U.S. company had built its Russian operation to about 130 stores since entering the country in 2007. The stores were owned and operated by a franchisee, Alshaya Group of Kuwait.

While the close resemblance of the new operations to their predecessors could be seen as riding someone else’s inspiration and effort, the Starbucks and McDonald’s successors also fit a national-pride concept. 

Since Russia was walloped by sanctions and foreign pullouts, officials frequently assert that Russia will overcome by relying on its own resources and energies.

‘Now the economic situation is difficult, but this is a time of opportunity,’ Oleg Eskindarov, president of the holding company that partnered in the Starbucks deal, told the state news agency Tass. 

‘For the past four months, we have been very actively looking at exiting companies following the example of Starbucks. There are several more similar examples, but we cannot talk about them yet.’ 

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