I guess Russians are fine with cheap knockoffs for their overpriced burnt coffee. No idea what Starbucks Corp thinks of this after they sold to Russian restaurateur Anton Pinsky and Russian rapper Timati back in July and got out of Russia after 15 years of doing business there.

Surprised they didn't call it Tsarbucks...

Source: Wall Street Journal

Starbucks Corp.'s former flagship store in Moscow reopened under new ownership but with similar branding, months after the Seattle-based coffee giant pulled out of Russia.

On Friday, Russians lined up for drinks at Stars Coffee, operating under a new logo similar to Starbucks’s. Instead of Starbucks’s siren with a star-topped crown, the new Russian chain’s logo sports a woman wearing a star-emblazoned kokoshnik, a traditional Russian headdress. On its website, which went live Thursday, Stars Coffee posted, “Bucks left. Stars have stayed.”

The approach is a stark departure from that of the new owners of another big Western chain that recently left Russia:

McDonald’s Corp.

After McDonald’s sold its thousands of Russian restaurants to Alexander Govor, a Siberian businessman, he instituted a wholesale rebranding. That included a new name, Vkusno i tochka, or “Tasty & That’s It,” and a distinct logo. The burger chain also dropped off some menu items, like the Big Mac and the McFlurry, saying they were too directly related to McDonald’s.