Let me lead you through the streets of Moscow

by Anni Pelmeni

The Red Square is not only museums and historical monuments, the #1 shopping center is also on the Red Square. From the historical perspective it does not come as any surprise: ever since the 15the century the Red Square was the center of trade in Moscow. That early in the 15th century there was no central planning to organize the trade on the Red Square, so it had rather chaotic nature. In the end of the 19th century, Tsar Alexander I commission to build here a shopping mall Verchnie Torgovye Ryady. That became the most fashionable and prestigious shopping mall in the whole Russia. Constructed from metal and glass which was quite progressive for that time, the mall consisted of 3 broad floors decorative in the modern style. This building is still on the Red Square nowadays.

After the Revolution of 1917 the shopping center right across the Kremlin did not fit with the socialist ideology and it was used as an office building for Soviet bureaucracy. After the reconstruction of 1953, it had returned to the initial function of being a shopping mall. Even in the Soviet Union it remained the biggest and was called GUM - Glavnyj Universal'nyj Magazin (Main Universal Shop). Compared to the other retailers in the Soviet Union, this shopping center could boast with the abundance of goods including capitalistic jeans, bohemian high heels boots and exotic dainties. All Soviet tourists after visiting the Kremlin would rush into the GUM to buy presents and souvenirs.

Nowadays the GUM is a mirror of Moscow's current fashions and trends. With fancy and expensive boutiques it became an elite shopping center. The brand names are all there such as Louis Vuitton, Corneliani, Dior, La Perla, Ermanno Scervino, Escada, Sonia Rykel, Marina Rinaldi, Burberry, MaxMara, Kenzo, Hugo Boss.

It would be an exaggeration to say that it is a busy mall. Most of the common people just regard it as another museum just to stare at the luxurious items and have a coffee in one of many cafes. But there also must be those who do buy haute couture stuff, otherwise how do the boutiques afford the rent? Place right across from the Kremlin is surely one of the most expensive in Moscow.

Stumbe it!