Vkusno & tochka: Russia’s rebranded McDonald’s opens in Moscow
Moscow, Jun 12 (EFE).- Thousands of Russians on Sunday attended the reopening of the first branch of the revamped Russian McDonald’s in Moscow, after the US fast food chain closed all locations after more than 30 years in the country.
“I hope to eat well and have a good time with my friends,” a schoolboy told Efe while waiting for his turn to enter.
Some 15 branches will open in the Russian capital under the new name of Vkusno & tochka (Russian for ‘Tasty and that’s it’) and a new logo, including the one in Pushkin Square.
Another 50 restaurants are expected to open on Monday and 200 others by the end of the month, while between 50 and 100 branches will open their doors across Russia every week.
Despite the summer heat, thousands of people gathered outside the new branch.
“We came to feel this atmosphere and see what the new McDonald’s will be like… I mean, not McDonald’s anymore,” said Olesia, a student who had been a regular McDonald’s customer.
Sasha, meanwhile, said he was confident that “everything will remain as before, the same atmosphere, a place to share and eat.”
McDonald’s, one of the largest restaurant franchises in the world, shut down its business Russia in March in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
The new owner is Alexander Govor, who previously operated 25 McDonald’s restaurants in Siberia.
“I am an ambitious person and I hope not only to reopen all the 850 locations soon but to continue moving forward,” Govor said during the opening of Vkusno & tochka.
The Siberian businessman made his fortune in fossil fuels and joined the fast food chain in 2014 when he opened 25 restaurants in the city of Novosibirsk.
“We congratulate you on the opening of the restaurant! We were worried about you, about the fate of the employees, about the suppliers, it is a large number of people, tens of thousands,” Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said.
Oleg, a former employee of another fast food chain, attended the reopening “to experience this historic moment, see how it turns out, what’s on the menu.”
“The menu is the same. For me, as a type 1 insulin-dependent diabetic, it is important to have options to choose from. And here I was able to do it,” he said.
Although the names on offer are different, the menu is practically identical, and the digital ordering systems do not differ in any way from the previous ones.
According to Tamara, offers have “changed a bit, now the hamburgers are richer, juicier, and come with more sauce.”EFE
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