MOSCOW (AP) – Three months after the suspension of McDonald’s operations in Russia, hundreds of people stormed its famous former store in Moscow’s Pushkin Square as the restaurant reopened on Sunday with a Russian owner and a new name.
In March, McDonald’s shut down the company’s restaurants in Russia. Although some franchisees remained open, the action of the multinational fast-food chain was one of the most obvious responses from foreign companies in Russia sending troops to Ukraine.
Two months later, McDonald’s decided to leave Russia altogether and sold its 850 restaurants to Alexander Govor, who had licenses for 25 franchises in Siberia.
Govor moves quickly to reopen the closed sockets. Just a few hours before the opening of the restaurant Pushkin Square, the new name of the Russian chain was announced: Vkusno-i Tochka (tasting season).
The logo is different, but still reminiscent of golden arches: a circle and two elongated yellow ones – representing a burger and french fries – shaped into a stylized M.
Fifteen of the former McDonald’s were to reopen in Moscow on Sunday. Oleg Paroev, the chain’s general manager, said he planned to open 200 by the end of the month.
As part of the deal, the terms of which were not announced, the new company agreed to retain all 62,000 people employed by McDonald’s before it left.
The crowd at the exit of Pushkin Square, no matter how large and lively, did not fit in with the McDonald’s inauguration in 1990, when people waited in line for hours. At the time, McDonald’s had a psychological and political impact beyond hamburgers.
The opening was the first taste most Muscovites had of Western consumerism and service efficiency, as well as a sign that the Soviet Union was slowly abandoning its vigilance and allowing foreign culture to enter the country.
On Sunday, this previous symbolism echoed Sunday reopening with a note of nostalgia.
“This is a historic place – the flagship of McDonald’s,” Govor told reporters. “I’m sure it will be the flagship for us.”
Inside, the restaurant looked like a fraternal twin of its former self. There were touch screens for orders and workers wearing well-known polo uniforms.
“We are confident that our customers will not notice a difference between us,” Paroev said. However, he said, the company will look for a new soft drink supplier as it has limited Coca-Cola stocks.
