While the Forbidden City is forbidding Starbucks, the global coffee chain finally opened its doors in Russia two years after it won a legal battle to protect its brand in the Russian market. It took long enough. McDonald's has been there since 1990, so I'm surprised it took Starbucks over 10 years to set up shop in Russia.

The shop is located in a Mega shopping mall in Khimki, just north of Moscow. The company plans to open another shop on Moscow's historic Stary Arbat street before 2007 is up, but is keeping mum on further expansion plans.

My prediction? It won't be long before Starbucks shops pop up across Russia like pimples on an adolescent's face.

[via Reuters]

Filed under: Business, Food and Drink, Europe, Russian Federation