Hours of queuing for a glimpse of the West in 1990: Why McDonald’s closure in Russia is now symbolic

The interference of the American parent company was kept to a minimum. Only the Russian ruble was accepted as currency, a sign of McDonald’s confidence in the future. Another sign: Due to import restrictions, McDonald’s Russia built up almost the entire production chain on site, from farms to processing and packaging factories. And there was also the search for personnel.

There was no shortage of candidates. No fewer than 27,000 Russians had applied to apply for 630 places. McDonald’s allowed the best of the best of young and intelligent soviets: students from prestigious universities with an excellent knowledge of foreign languages ​​and brilliant customer skills. It took them no effort at all to learn how to show that quintessentially American smile and remain friendly at all times.

And the Russian people hadn’t seen that yet. People were used to cool, surly and sometimes downright brutal service. The fact that at McDonald’s Russia they had to deal with mannered and friendly staff who served them with beaming smiles, saying “please”, “thank you” and “goodbye” was a shock to them.

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