After 15 years of operations, Starbucks announced on Monday its permanent withdrawal from the Russian market, joining a growing list of corporations leaving the country in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.
During the first days of the war, on March 8, the coffee chain based in Seattle, Washington, United States, suspended the operations of its 130 establishments in Russia. Starbucks opened its first coffee shop in the country in 2007, in a shopping mall outside Moscow.
Recently, Starbucks announced through a release that “made the decision to leave and no longer have a brand presence in the market [ruso]”. The company will offer job assistance and pay its nearly 2,000 employees in Russia for six months. Former CEO Kevin Johnson has pledged to donate royalties from the Russian company to humanitarian causes.
This is the second major departure from Russia by an American global corporation after McDonald’s last week announced its withdrawal after 32 years of business in the country led by Vladimir Putin.
Total Starbucks stores in Russia account for less than one percent of the company’s annual revenue, which is not operated directly by the coffee empire, but by Alshaya Group, a Kuwait-based franchise operator. In its latest quarterly results released in early May, Starbucks did not disclose the financial impact of the decision to suspend business.
Source: Okchicas
With 6 years of experience, I bring to the table captivating and informative writing in the world news category. My expertise covers a range of industries, including tourism, technology, forex and stocks. From brief social media posts to in-depth articles, I am dedicated to creating compelling content for various platforms.
