In 2016, a queue of hundreds of people lined up at Novy Arbat on the day of the launch of the first gastronomic business of the popular Rapper Timati, the Black Star Burger restaurant. This company is famous not only for its partnership with a media persona, but also for huge lump-sum contributions. Later on, the franchisor reduced the cost of the fee by 10 times, and so the network has grown to 80 points and 20 more can open in the near future.
There are rumors circling around that the franchisor's promises don't always match up with reality. For example, the initial investments often go beyond the promised ones and the partner's profit is lower than the one specified in the business plan.
How it all started
Black Star Burger is one of the most famous projects associated with Rapper Timati. This idea does not belong to him according to the official version, but to the entrepreneur Yuri Levitan. In the early 2000s, Levitas was engaged in passenger transportation in the United States. In 2003, he opened the one More Club in Moscow. Five years later, he sold it and decided to invest in shares of the First Republican Bank. It failed in 2014 as the Central Bank revoked the Bank's license due to the fact that it "did not ensure timely fulfillment of obligations to creditors and depositors."
In 2015, Levitas decided to open a Burger shop, the development of which will be mainly due to media personalities and promoted social networks. He saw Timur Yunusov, the founder of the Black Star Music Label, as an ideal candidate for a partner. Timati at that time had an audience of 7.6 million subscribers, being one of the most popular bloggers in the Russian-speaking segment of Instagram. At that time, Timati and his business partner Pavel Kuryanov also planned to go into the restaurant business and were looking for a partner.
Thus, in 2015, Yuri Levitas, Timati, Pavel Kuryanov and Chassem Nzale Trifen Walter registered Black Star Foods LLC. Levitas had a share of 49% and the other partners 17% each in the business.
The first Black Star Burger restaurant was opened at Novy Arbat on September 26, 2016. A competent advertising campaign worked with a bang and on that day, hundreds of people gathered at the door of the restaurant. The restaurant promised to cook burgers for everyone for free and later Timothy himself got up to the grill.
Black disposable gloves that came with burgers became the main feature of the restaurant. Levitas took this idea from foreigners who eat burgers in special rubber gloves so as not to get their hands dirty. Timati supported the idea and suggested making them black.
The whole secret is in the hype
Levitas admits that in their case, the success was determined not by an army of competent marketers, but only because of a hype. A well-known media personality in the person of Timati successfully promoted the Black Star Burger brand in social networks. There was no need for any unique advertising: the artist just had to write something in his account and users instantly picked it up. This is how huge queues formed outside and inside the restaurant during the first hours of operation.
Six months later, the second Black Star Burger restaurant opened at Tsvetnoy Boulevard and six months later in Grozny. Movladi Alviev, a Chechen developer and co-investor of the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, became the owner of half of the Burger shop in Grozny.
Franchise rate
In 2018, the partners decided to bet on the franchise. There were long queues of potential partners that time. Three existing restaurants were sold to the first franchisee. The sale amount was less than the initial investment in opening restaurants. At the same time, Timati came to the opening of each point, personally distributed free burgers to visitors in the queue, wishing them a pleasant appetite. At the very beginning, the artist's presence was included in the lump-sum fee. Then this feature is paid separately: the arrival of Timothy was evaluated as to its performance and paid accordingly.
The Gagarin Group restaurant holding was commissioned to manage the franchise for a percentage of the profits of the parent company. Apparently, this huge cost was directly related to the hype of the first point that opened in Moscow and to Timati's personality itself. Partners sold not just a franchise, but a brand and a media face. To purchase a franchise from the Black Star Burger brand is to buy not just a business model, but also the status of "Timati's partner". This is actually what the founders of the company were counting on, setting such a cost.
In addition, Levitas says that the Burger shop has a multi-stage system of control over the activities of each restaurant, which is provided by the franchisor. Plus, Black Star Burger helps you save on purchases, because some suppliers sell them products at almost cost or at significant discounts.
In 2018, there are already about 10 points that were opened in Russia.
In 2019, the company changed its franchise Manager. As a result, the brand was taken over by the Best Food Industry. And according to its CEO Dmitry Lobanov, the management company and the franchisor split the profit in half.
When the hype passed
The demand for the franchise declined in the year of 2019, which was quite expected. Anyway, the hype around the brand gradually faded away.
Today, Black Star Burger operates in other countries such as: the United States, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
What about the pandemic?
Black Star Burger was also hit by the pandemic: revenue from all outlets and the parent company fell by 45%. In the summer, Timati announced his departure from the Music Label Black Star, but in other segments he retained his shares - these are burgers, go-karts, car washes, tattoo parlors, fitness, etc. Levitas says that Black Star Burger's business was not affected by this event.
Today, about 23% of applications for all Burger franchises are from Black Star Burger. The chain now has 80 outlets, including food trucks. The company has ambitious plans: the creators plan to increase the number of restaurants in Moscow to 100, and in the regions – to 300. Worldwide, Black Star Burger plans to open at least 500 restaurants. Levitas believes that the hype is left behind and the company itself may well last for hundreds of years.
