Russians are loving their McDonald’s rebrand

McDonald’s may be out of Russia, but the locals are loving the company’s rebrand.

The Daily Mail in the U.K. reported that a record-breaking amount of burger sales were enjoyed by Vkusno & Tochka — or “Tasty and that’s it.”

“On the first day we sold almost 120,000 burgers,” Chief Executive Oleg Paroev told the Daily Mail. “We have never seen such daily turnover in the whole time McDonald’s has worked in Russia.”

McDonald’s sold all of its restaurants to a Russia-based licensee in May in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. Fifty locations of Vkusno & Tochka officially reopened in the Moscow area on June 12 and 13.

The initial excitement will have to overcome some long-term challenges. Staples such as Big Macs and McFlurrys are no longer on the menu, and recipes for other products were required to change as well.

The rebrand also meant that Vkusno & Tochka lost the rights to McDonald’s trademarks and intellectual properties, so customers were greeted with a new logo, packaging and color scheme when the store reopened.

But that hasn’t stopped some former franchisees from keeping the familiar golden arches on their wrappers or from selling the Big Mac under a different name.

While using the American company’s branding is illegal under Russian law, Vkusno & Tochka owner Alexander Govor is still trying to sway some of the roughly 100 remaining former franchisees to join his new brand. Mr. Paroev said they’re mainly concentrated in train stations and airports.

The Daily Mail reported that Mr. Govor bought about 700 restaurants. Mr. Paroev said he wants to reach Mr. Govor’s goal of 1,000 stores in four to five years ahead of schedule.

McDonald’s had about 850 stores in Russia.