The logo of the Russian successor to Starbucks looks confusingly similar to the US model. There are parallels in other respects, too.
Because of the Ukraine war, numerous companies have withdrawn from Russia, including McDonald's. Starbucks, too, no longer wanted to operate in Russia. The 130 branches of the US coffee house chain were then taken over by rapper Timati, Vladimir Putin's confidant. Together with the gastro-entrepreneur Anton Pinskiy, he bought all of Starbucks' assets in Russia.
Now the first branches of “Stars Coffee” - the name of the successor company - have been either opened or reopened. Timati had announced that he would only use raw materials from his home country, a move to demonstrate independence from the West. But Stars Coffee might not be that independence after all - the logo at least looks like a bad copy of the Starbucks logo. Instead of the mermaid in the original, the Russian version is to show a woman with a Russian headdress. Otherwise, there is a considerable risk of confusion - probably intentional.
Like with Starbucks, customers receive a coffee cup with their name scrawled on. In other respects, the Stars Coffee branches are also strongly reminiscent of the earlier US versions. Only the Frappuccino is missing; this is probably for legal reasons. In the coming month, all former Starbucks branches are to be reopened.
By Putin's grace, the new owners have already let it be known in the Russian media that it will not be at all easy from an economic point of view.
