The successor to Starbucks, renamed Stars Coffee, welcomed its first visitors to Moscow on Friday after the Seattle-based coffeeshop chain withdrew from the Russian market over the conflict in Ukraine.
Pro-Kremlin rapper Timati and Russian restaurateur Anton Pinskiy acquired Starbucks’ Russian business in July and gave it a new name under the slogan “bucks are gone, stars stay.”
“Why STARS? The new brand brings together the stars of gastronomy,” say the new owners of the coffee chain on their website, which also features the new logo.
The logo looks very similar to its predecessor, replacing Starbuck’s iconic two-tailed mermaid with a woman wearing a traditional Russian headdress, the kokoshnik.
Guests will find familiar caffeinated beverages on the menu, but no Starbucks-patented frappuccinos.
The new chain will also continue Starbucks’ tradition of writing customer names on mugs when they take their order.
Starbucks temporarily closed its 130 coffee shops in Russia at the start of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine in February, and later announced it was permanently exiting the Russian market after nearly 15 years.
The coffee shop chain joined an exodus of brands leaving Russia over the Ukraine offensive, including fast-food giant McDonald’s, which has also reopened with a new name and logo.
Stars Coffee owners said all of the chain’s branches across Russia will open by the end of September.
Most of them will remain cafes while some will become restaurants.
They also said about 80 percent of Starbucks’ 2,000 employees in Russia chose to stay after the change of ownership.
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