Russian version of Starbucks opens: "The dollar is gone, the stars are left"

　　Reference News Network

According to a report by Agence France-Presse on August 19, due to the conflict in Ukraine, the Starbucks coffee chain withdrew from the Russian market.

On the 19th, Starbucks' successor "Star Coffee" chain welcomed a large number of customers in Moscow.

　　Pro-Kremlin rapper Jima Ji and Russian restaurant operator Anton Pinsky bought Starbucks' Russian operations in July and gave it a new name.

Their slogan is "bucks go away, stars stay."

　　The store's logo is very similar to its predecessor, replacing Starbucks' iconic two-tailed mermaid with a woman wearing a traditional Russian headgear, the "Kokoshnik."

　　"Why 'Star Coffee'? Because this new brand will unite the stars of the food world," the coffee chain's new owners said on its website.

　　Regular customers will see the familiar coffee drink on the menu, but won't see Starbucks' proprietary drink, the Frappuccino.

　　The new coffee chain will also continue Starbucks' tradition of labeling customers' names on cups when they place an order.

　　The Starbucks coffee chain temporarily closed its 130 coffee shops in Russia after Russia's military intervention in Ukraine in February, before announcing that it would end its nearly 15-year history in the country and permanently withdraw from the Russian market.

　　Several brands, including fast-food giant McDonald's, have withdrawn from Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine.

However, the original McDonald's store has now also been revamped and reopened.

　　The owner of Star Coffee said that by the end of September, the chain's stores across Russia will be open.

　　According to a report on the website of the Russian "Izvestia" on August 19, Anton Pinsky pointed out that Star Coffee did not copy Starbucks, but a new chain brand.

"We want to use our own example to show that we can do better," he said.

　　"Problems can arise when the quality of a new product differs from the classic taste that people are used to," said Yelena Perepelica, head of consultancy Restcon, according to the report.

　　However, the new owner assures that the quality of the meals will only be higher.

If Starbucks' food is all frozen food shipped from "food factories", now the meals will be made on site.

　　The Star Coffee beverage list includes classic espresso, American, cappuccino and other types, as well as original new flavors of coffee, such as fragrant citrus, strawberry latte, maringo, lavender latte and more.

The cheapest drink costs 160 rubles (about $2.69) and the most expensive is 395 rubles (about $6.65).

　　Most of Star Coffee’s storefronts will still be coffee shops, while some will be converted into restaurants, the report said.

　　They also said about 80 percent of Starbucks' 2,000 employees in Russia chose to stay after switching brands.