Employees work at the newly-opened Stars Coffee cafe in Moscow.
Employees work at the newly-opened Stars Coffee cafe in Moscow.
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images

A restaurateur and rapper duo unveiled Stars Coffee on Thursday, reopening the chain of coffee shops in Russia formerly owned by Starbucks, the latest major company rebranding after a months-long Western corporate exodus from the country.

At a packed launch in central Moscow, rapper Timati presented the new brand, whose logo features an image of a woman with a star above her head, alongside co-owner and restaurateur Anton Pinskiy, before shops start opening on Friday.

Banned from using the Starbucks (SBUX) logo, Timati said they had sought to find some continuity, namely the circular shape and “female gender,” which he said contrasted nicely with the brown, cigar-like “masculine color” in the new logo.

Russian singer and entrepreneur Timur Yunusov, better known as Timati, drinks coffee at a newly opened Stars Coffee coffee shop in the former location of the Starbucks coffee shop in Moscow, Russia,
Russian singer and entrepreneur Timur Yunusov, better known as Timati, drinks coffee at a newly opened Stars Coffee coffee shop in the former location of the Starbucks coffee shop in Moscow, Russia,
Dmitry Serebryakov/AP

“People’s perceptions may be different,” said Pinskiy. “But if you compare, then apart from the circle, you won’t find anything in common.”

Starbucks declined to comment on the similarity of the logo and name, but refe