Starbucks delays St Petersburg opening

US-based coffee chain Starbucks is to postpone the opening of its first outlet in St Petersburg by two years for ‘political reasons’. Lia Dovgun, Marketing Manager of the Monaks Trading company in Moscow, Starbucks’ business partner in Russia said: “Now I can say for certain that a Starbucks café will not open in St Petersburg until 2012; we are not disclosing information about the reasons for the delay because of investors’ plans.”

Monaks Trading is owned by the Kuwait-based retailer Alshaya Group, franchisee of Starbucks branches in Moscow and the Middle East. Starbucks was due to open at the end of 2010 in the Leto mall, which is located on Pulkovskoye Shosse. Starbucks had signed a five year rental agreement with the mall in December 2009.