RU – Starbucks in Moscow
Starbucks opened its first coffee shop in Russia yesterday, two years after it won a legal battle to protect the right to its brand in the fast-growing Russian market.
The newest Starbucks in the worldwide chain of about 10,000 outlets is in the Mega shopping mall in Khimki, just north of Moscow.
Starbucks plans a second store in Russia on Moscow’s historic Stary Arbat street before the end of the year.
In 2005, the Seattle company won a trademark fight over the Starbucks name. A “squatter” had registered the right to use the name in Russia and was asking $600,000 from Starbucks to relinquish it.
The company successfully proved in Russian courts that it was the rightful owner of the name.
Alyona Mikhailova, 34, placed Russia’s first official Starbucks order, for a venti, or medium, cappuccino.
Within the METRO Group, Real embodies the concept of a large selling space hypermarket. The Real hypermarkets are conveniently located, extensive and clearly structured. The brand profile of Real clearly targets young families with kids and the 50plus generation.
Another new retail format under development is the Carrefour Express, a chain of stores ranging from 800 to 2,000 sq m and employing from 20 to 40. These are located in areas with a relatively small number of large retail outlets and a population of 10,000 to 15,000. The project involves building a positive image for Carrefour and converting its Champion and Globi supermarkets into the new Carrefour Express chain. About 35 Champion stores will be rebranded in the first phase of the project, scheduled to last until the end of 2007.
