Posted on 01/31/2020 2:55:17 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
The U.S. fast food giant opened its first chain in Moscow on this day 30 years ago, in the final months of the Soviet Union.
McDonald’s opened the doors of its first restaurant in Russia 30 years ago, on Jan. 31, 1990. With 900 seats, it was the largest McDonald’s in the world at the time.
Muscovites started queuing at 4:30 a.m. for their chance to get a taste of the famous American fast food. McDonald’s sold 34,000 burgers on its first day — smashing the burger chain’s previous first-day record of 9,100.
Around 27,000 Russians applied to work at the first McDonald’s in Russia, with 630 eventually hired.
“It’s very beautiful,” a young Russian man trying a Big Mac for the first time told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) at the time, “but I expected more.”
McDonald’s was forced to scrap plans to mark the 30th anniversary Friday by selling Big Macs at the same price they were in 1990 — three rubles ($0.05) — due to coronavirus fears, as the Russian government urged companies to avoid public events which could draw excessive crowds.
(Excerpt) Read more at themoscowtimes.com ...
...Due to Soviet restrictions on imports, McDonald’s had to build a huge new processing site on the outskirts of Moscow to produce the food for its first Russian outlet. The site was not connected to the electricity grid, however, and the Soviet authorities were not quick about installing the necessary power cables. Cohon complained directly to the Soviet ambassador in Canada about the slow start, and the ambassador called in hundreds of Soviet soldiers to start digging trenches and laying power lines to the plant.
...Around 27,000 Russians applied to work at the first McDonald’s in Russia, with 630 eventually hired. Recruiters selected the best and brightest, including those with foreign-language skills, and trained them to maintain an American-style smile when serving customers. “It was crazy,” recalled Svetlana Polyakova, who was working in the kitchen in January 1990 and is now the public relations director for McDonald’s in Russia. “I saw faces that were really surprised by the friendliness of the cashiers. For Soviet people to hear ‘Please, come here,’ ‘Thank you’ and ‘Come again’ — it was so rare in the Soviet service culture.”
...When it opened, McDonald’s burgers were something of a luxury purchase: A Big Mac, fries and a drink cost the equivalent of half a day’s wages for the average worker.
No wonder Russia thinks America sucks!
Someone needs to send this to Crazy Uncle Bernie - Communism vs Capitalism.
“It was very beautiful, but I expected more. “
That means the advertising worked perfectly.
I recall a story from McDonald’s China of the early 1990s. MCD teamed-up with Unilever to have a promotion of recently a introduced-to-China Unilever shampoo, and were giving all customer small envelopes samples of Suave, or Lux or whatever brand it was.
Customers quickly started to complain the “sauce” being provided for the burgers had a very strange and soapy flavor....
Bernie wants to return to the Soviet days of standing in line for hours for stale bread (if you were lucky). And a lot of Millennials eat this up!
McDonald’s in Russia Turns 30
And it already has heart disease.
I remember the news stories about this as a kid!
Also there was even a Pizza Hut (?) commercial with Gorby himself in it.
I remember reading that MC’DONALDS had to start their own Russian cattle farms, and other farms to supply the meats and baked goods for their Russian operations.
I personally don’t care for McDonalds but if it works, GO FOR IT!
The best McDonald’s meal we ever had was in St. Petersburg, Russia several years ago. It was very crowded and we were a party of 10 ... the dining room hostess rousted a couple of teen girls on their cell phones from a big booth. Adults sat at the table and kids sat on the wide marble window sill beside the booth.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.