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End of an era as Russia’s McDonald’s reopens under new name
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‘New’ Moscow: Visitors use touchscreens to order their meals on Sunday at Vkusno i tochka, the Russian version of a former McDonald's restaurant, following the new chain’s opening ceremony in Moscow. (AFP/Kiriil Kudryavtsev)
T
he restaurant that launched McDonald's entry to Russia in 1990, heralding Moscow's opening after decades of Soviet rule, reopened on Sunday with a new name and logo in a potent reminder of the upheaval sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.
The United States fast-food giant announced on May 16 that it would exit Russia in the wake of its Ukraine offensive.
In Pushkin Square on Sunday, dozens of people gathered outside the Russian incarnation of the fast-food restaurant, Vkusno i tochka ("Delicious. Full Stop"), well before the official opening at noon (9:00 a.m. GMT).
"My whole family went [...] three times to McDonald's for a farewell meal," Elena, a programmer and mother of two, told AFP. "Now, we're going for a reunion lunch," she smiled.
Inside, 31-year-old Oleg, one of the first customers to receive his order, said Vkusno i tochka was "delicious, beautiful and cheap”.
The restaurant, located at the site where the very first McDonald's opened its doors to long queues and great fanfare in January 1990, is among the first 15 outlets to welcome customers.
On Monday, another 50 outlets are set to open, according to Oleg Paroyev, general manager of the new group, with the chain then planning to reopen 50 to 100 outlets a week across the country.
In place of the Golden Arches is a new logo of two stylized orange fries alongside a red dot on a green background.
There are still double cheeseburgers on the menu, as well as a wide range of ice creams and desserts. But the "Mc" prefix no longer appears.
"We had to remove some products from the menu because they refer directly to McDonald's, such as McFlurry and Big Mac," Paroyev said. Prices had risen "slightly" due to the inflation that hit Russia hard after Western countries imposed sanctions, but they remained "reasonable", he added.
As for the packaging, it was "neutral", said Paroyev, with "no word, no letter" that should remind customers of McDonald's.
McDonald's Russian outlets had accounted for around 9 percent of the US group's turnover.
Three days after the company announced its exit in May, Russian businessman Alexander Govor, who had been a licensee of the chain since 2015, bought the 850-restaurant operation.
"I am ambitious and I don't only plan to open the 850 restaurants, but to develop new ones," Govor said on Sunday.
Govor, who is cofounder of refining company NefteKhimService and a board member of a firm that owns the Park Inn hotel and private clinics in Siberia, had operated 25 restaurants in Siberia.
Under the conditions of the sale, Govor agreed to retain employees for at least two years and fund liabilities to suppliers, landlords and utilities, McDonald's said. The price of the transaction was not disclosed, but in announcing its exit, McDonald's said it planned to take a one-time charge of US$1.2 billion to $1.4 billion to write off the investment.
McDonald's had employed 62,000 workers in Russia.
