Starbucks abandoned the Russian market with the war in Ukraine. Many western companies have since been replaced by Russian copies.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, several western companies have left Russia. They have been replaced by Russian copies of, for example, McDonalds and Zara, which don’t exactly hide their role models.
On Friday, the first cafe of the new cafe chain Stars Coffee opened in Moscow. The concept is mistakenly reminiscent of the American Starbucks, which had 130 coffee shops in Russia at the beginning of the year, but now has none.
Stars Coffee has clearly taken inspiration for the look of its logo from Starbucks’ well-known mermaid logo. In the new logo, the mermaid’s tails have disappeared and the star crown has been replaced by a traditional Russian kokoshnik headdress also decorated with a star.
In the Russianized coffee shop chain, the customer’s name is written on the coffee cups with a marker, as is customary at Starbucks. Instead, Starbucks trademarks, Frappuccino coffees are not sold at Stars Coffee.
Referring to the new and old names, Stars Coffee’s advertising slogan is: “Dollars fade, stars remain”. The founders of the cafe chain with a Russian look are a popular rapper Timati or Timur Yunusov and restaurant entrepreneur Anton Pinsky.
Rapper Timati is also known Vladimir Putin as a vocal supporter. Among other things, he has recorded a song called President Putin is my best friend.
According to the owners, all former Starbucks coffee shops will be rebranded by the end of September. According to them, the vast majority of Starbucks’ former employees continue to be on Stars Coffee’s payroll.
Starbucks has not commented on its Russian mantle heir.