McDonald's revolutionized Russia... and now it's leaving.

 

New York (CNN Business) – It was a big thing when McDonald's first opened its doors in Moscow.

Even though it was the dead of winter – January 31, 1990 — crowds flocked in droves. Grainy Lines stretching out the door and crowds of people inside trying Big Macs for the first time, according to CNN footage.

The venue at Pushkin Square was enormous, with seating for hundreds of people. At the time, it was the world's largest McDonald's restaurant. The fast food business was hopping on the inside. In many aspects, it resembled any other McDonald's from the time period. Under the golden arches, however, there was a hammer-and-sickle flag and an international theme inside, with a model of London's Big Ben.

Bright-eyed Customer orders were taken by McDonald's personnel wearing maroon branded visors and large smiles. According to a Washington Post report from 1990, about 630 employees were picked from a pool of 27,000 candidates. Before the store opened for business, they had to go through a month of training.

The golden arches were an instant hit. According to the CBC, 30,000 people were served on the first day, a McDonald's record for an inaugural day. Because of the crowds, the facility had to stay open for many hours longer than scheduled.

According to Darra Goldstein, emerita Willcox B. and Harriet M. Adsit professor of Russian at Williams College, McDonald's arrival in Moscow was about more than just Big Macs and fries. President Mikhail Gorbechev's attempt to open up his collapsing country to world ties was the most visible illustration of glasnost in action.

"The Iron Curtain had a very evident breach in it," she remarked. "It was a very symbolic representation of the changes that were occurring." The Soviet Union would fall apart two years later.

McDonald's spread its presence across the country after the first location opened. In Russia, there were approximately 850 sites open as of last week.

However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine forced McDonald's to rethink its strategy, at least briefly. Following similar choices by other Western companies and pressure from critics, the corporation said on Tuesday that it will halt operations at certain eateries.

This moment is equally symbolic for Goldstein, but far less hopeful.

"If the launch of McDonald's in 1990 marked the start of a new period in Soviet life, one with greater freedoms, then the company's current exit reflects not only a business closing down, but a society closing down as a whole," she said.