McDonald's is closing its restaurants in Russia. Step back in time to 1990 when the chain arrived in the country — and hundreds of people lined up to get a Big Mac.

Grace DeanMar 11, 2022, 19:14 IST

Russia's first McDonald's on its opening day in 1990. Note the small Soviet flag until the McDonald's logo.Vitaly Armand/AFP via Getty Images

McDonald's is closing all its restaurants in Russia after the country invaded Ukraine.
When it opened its first restaurant in Moscow in 1990, hundreds of people lined up to try its food.

McDonald's said on Tuesday that it would temporarily close its roughly 850 restaurants in Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

A closed McDonald's restaurant in Moscow, March 2022.Alexander Sayganov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Other Western companies were quick to pull out of Russia after the attack started, but McDonald's was the first major fast-food chain to make the move.

A McDonald's restaurant in Moscow with the Russian flag outside, March 2022.Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images

McDonald's opened its first outlet in Russia — then part of the Soviet Union — in Moscow's Pushkin Square on January 31, 1990. Despite the harsh weather, hundreds of people lined up to try its food.

People seen lining up on the opening day of Russia's first McDonald's outlet, located in Moscow's Pushkin Square, on January 31, 1990.Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press file photo

McDonald's opened its first outlet in Russia — then part of the Soviet Union — in Moscow's Pushkin Square on January 31, 1990. Despite the harsh weather, hundreds of people lined up to try its food.

For Russian people, the opening of a McDonald's restaurant, synonymous with capitalism and American culture, was a very tangible symbol of the impending collapse of the Soviet Union. After more than 80 years of socialism, people in Russia were awakening to new Western ways of eating, passing time, and spending money.

Then-US President George Bush and Russian politician Mikhail Gorbachev, 1989.Chip Hires/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

For Russian people, the opening of a McDonald's restaurant, synonymous with capitalism and American culture, was a very tangible symbol of the impending collapse of the Soviet Union. After more than 80 years of socialism, people in Russia were awakening to new Western ways of eating, passing time, and spending money.

McDonald's advertised the restaurant's opening using the slogan: "If you can't go to America, come to McDonald's in Moscow."

The McDonald's sign.Associated Press

But opening Russia's first McDonald's wasn't easy. It took around 14 years of negotiations, largely shaped by George Cohon, the then-chairman of McDonald's Canada.

George Cohon, the then-chairman of McDonald's Canada.Doug Griffin/Toronto Star via Getty Images

"On the Soviet side, there was very little real understanding of what was involved in establishing or operating a chain of McDonald's restaurants," Cohon wrote in his book "To Russia With Fries," per CNN.

A street in Moscow, August 1990.Bertrand Laforet/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

"On the Soviet side, there was very little real understanding of what was involved in establishing or operating a chain of McDonald's restaurants," Cohon wrote in his book "To Russia With Fries," per CNN.

"It will all go downhill," a customer who visited the Pushkin Square restaurant on its opening day told The Washington Post. "We don't know how to run a restaurant like this."

A McDonald's restaurant in Canada, January 1986.Reg Innell/Toronto Star via Getty Images

"It will all go downhill," a customer who visited the Pushkin Square restaurant on its opening day told The Washington Post. "We don't know how to run a restaurant like this."

People started lining up outside the restaurant at 4 a.m., CBC reported. When the restaurant opened at 10 a.m., there was already a 500-yard line of customers waiting to get in, per The Washington Post. For many, this was likely their first time trying Western fast food.

Vitaly Armand/AFP via Getty Images

People started lining up outside the restaurant at 4 a.m., CBC reported. When the restaurant opened at 10 a.m., there was already a 500-yard line of customers waiting to get in, per The Washington Post. For many, this was likely their first time trying Western fast food.

Members of the military, TV crews, and costumed actors all crowded the square, too.

Both: Vitaly Armand/AFP via Getty Images

It was then the world's biggest McDonald's restaurant, with 900 seats, and it got 27,000 applications for 630 jobs, The Washington Post reported. Around 30,000 customers were served on its first day, CBC reported.

A Russian woman eats a hamburger at Russia's first McDonald's on its opening day, January 1990.Rudi Blaha/AP

It was then the world's biggest McDonald's restaurant, with 900 seats, and it got 27,000 applications for 630 jobs, The Washington Post reported. Around 30,000 customers were served on its first day, CBC reported.

Though its food was expensive when compared to wages in Russia, McDonald's proved very popular.

People wait in line outside a McDonald's restaurant in Moscow, 1990.AP

So McDonald's massively expanded its presence in Russia.

A McDonald's restaurant in Moscow, May 1990.Bernard Bisson/Sygma via Getty Images

By March 2021, McDonald's had 847 restaurants in the country.

A McDonald's restaurant in Sochi, February 2013.Jan Woitas/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

The closure of these, which are largely company owned rather than franchised, is set to cost McDonald's around $50 million per month, its CFO said. The company said it will continue paying wages to its roughly 62,000 staff during the closures.

A McDonald's restaurant in Moscow, March 2022.Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The closure of these, which are largely company owned rather than franchised, is set to cost McDonald's around $50 million per month, its CFO said. The company said it will continue paying wages to its roughly 62,000 staff during the closures.

Before the restaurants closed, Russian people crowded inside McDonald's restaurants to get their last Big Mac in a while, echoing the huge queues that formed when McDonald's opened its first restaurants in the country.

People visit a McDonald's in Moscow ahead of its stores closing in Russia.Konstantin Zavrazhin/Getty Images

Before the restaurants closed, Russian people crowded inside McDonald's restaurants to get their last Big Mac in a while, echoing the huge queues that formed when McDonald's opened its first restaurants in the country.

This isn't the first time it's closed restaurants in the region because of geopolitical tensions. In 2014, McDonald's temporarily closed its three locations in Crimea after it was annexed by Russia.

A man and a little girl look at a closed McDonald's in the Crimean capital Simferopol, April 2014.Yuriy Lashov/AFP via Getty Images

This isn't the first time it's closed restaurants in the region because of geopolitical tensions. In 2014, McDonald's temporarily closed its three locations in Crimea after it was annexed by Russia.

We visited Ikea's new micro store in London, and saw how it solves one of the worst things about shopping at the chain, which psychologists say can drive couples to divorce

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

McDonald's is closing its restaurants in Russia. Step back in time to 1990 when the chain arrived in the country &mdash; and hundreds of people lined up to get a Big Mac.

McDonald's said on Tuesday that it would temporarily close its roughly 850 restaurants in Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Other Western companies were quick to pull out of Russia after the attack started, but McDonald's was the first major fast-food chain to make the move.

McDonald's opened its first outlet in Russia — then part of the Soviet Union — in Moscow's Pushkin Square on January 31, 1990. Despite the harsh weather, hundreds of people lined up to try its food.

McDonald's advertised the restaurant's opening using the slogan: "If you can't go to America, come to McDonald's in Moscow."

But opening Russia's first McDonald's wasn't easy. It took around 14 years of negotiations, largely shaped by George Cohon, the then-chairman of McDonald's Canada.

"On the Soviet side, there was very little real understanding of what was involved in establishing or operating a chain of McDonald's restaurants," Cohon wrote in his book "To Russia With Fries," per CNN.

"It will all go downhill," a customer who visited the Pushkin Square restaurant on its opening day told The Washington Post. "We don't know how to run a restaurant like this."

People started lining up outside the restaurant at 4 a.m., CBC reported. When the restaurant opened at 10 a.m., there was already a 500-yard line of customers waiting to get in, per The Washington Post. For many, this was likely their first time trying Western fast food.

Members of the military, TV crews, and costumed actors all crowded the square, too.

It was then the world's biggest McDonald's restaurant, with 900 seats, and it got 27,000 applications for 630 jobs, The Washington Post reported. Around 30,000 customers were served on its first day, CBC reported.

Though its food was expensive when compared to wages in Russia, McDonald's proved very popular.

So McDonald's massively expanded its presence in Russia.

By March 2021, McDonald's had 847 restaurants in the country.

The closure of these, which are largely company owned rather than franchised, is set to cost McDonald's around $50 million per month, its CFO said. The company said it will continue paying wages to its roughly 62,000 staff during the closures.

Before the restaurants closed, Russian people crowded inside McDonald's restaurants to get their last Big Mac in a while, echoing the huge queues that formed when McDonald's opened its first restaurants in the country.

This isn't the first time it's closed restaurants in the region because of geopolitical tensions. In 2014, McDonald's temporarily closed its three locations in Crimea after it was annexed by Russia.

McDonald's is closing its restaurants in Russia. Step back in time to 1990 when the chain arrived in the country — and hundreds of people lined up to get a Big Mac.