Stores, Malls or Markets in Moscow

Looking at it now, you would never believe how grim GUM (the State Department Store)once was. Dingy, dismal, drab with little on the shelves, unhelpful staff - not a place to linger in. It's actually not a single store at all, a shopping mall is a better description, a lovely glass-roofed Belle Epoque structure with hundreds of small shops on three floors. Now its arcades are lined with elegant shops selling top labels from Russia and abroad. Smart snack bars in the centre aisle serve cappucinos and delicious cakes and gay pink umbrellas shade the tables on the top levels. Kiosks sell souvenirs, and bright banners hang along the sides. The place is thronged with people, some indulging in serious retail therapy, others window shopping. About the only reminders of the old GUM are the icecream sellers - and the loos in the lowest level, where the old Russian way of stern ladies overseeing things (and dispensing loo paper) still holds sway.

What to buy: You can buy just about anything in GUM, from a baboushka-shaped fridge magnet for a dollar to a Burberry raincoat or a Dior lipstick. The stuffed animal heads from the little shop at the southern end might cause some problems on the plane home and check with your country's customs if you're thinking of buying caviar - some of those that have signed the CITES Treaty for the protection of endangered species won't let you bring it home. If you are a shopaholic, this place will sorely tempt you.

Make your way right through to the back of the Vernisazh market and up the stairs to where you will find an amazing world of colour. Simple open-air stalls are hung with huge carpets from Dagestan, Azerbayjan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Others lie folded in high piles. Rugs, saddlebags, runners, kilims, and other pieces of every size and origin are there. Some dealers also have a few pieces of other ethnic textiles. We saw some very good, old carpets and were sorely tempted ( next time). The dealers are all from the Caucasus and Central Asia.

What to buy: Shopping for carpets and rugs probably isn't something most visitors expect to do in Moscow, but this place is a real find for anyone who is interested, and the prices are very good. A huge carpet might pose a problem, though shipping can be arranged, but it is surprising to see just how neatly a small rug will fold and fit into a suitcase.

What to pay: That depends entirely on the individual piece, but prices compared vary favourably with those we have seen, and paid, in Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

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Russian nesting doll or matryoshka as it is sounded in Russian - is probably, the most popular Russian national souvenir. No one leaves Russia without having bought matryoskas!

Here is a bit of the history of the "matryoshkas" :

The first Russian nesting doll (matryoshka) was born in 1890 in the workshop "Children's Education" situated in Abramtsevo estate new Moscow.

Russian wooden dolls within smaller dolls were called matryoshka. In old Russian among peasants the name Matryona or Matriosha was a very popular female name. Scholars says this name has a Latin root "mater" and means "Mother". This name was associated with the image of of a mother of a big peasant family who was very healthy and had a portly figure.

Subsequently, it became a symbolic name and was used specially to image brightly painted wooden figurines made in a such way that they could taken apart to reveal smaller dolls fitting inside one another.

Actulally the best place to get opriginal souvenirs is the Vernisazh market that takes place during week ends in the park Izmaylovsky.
But if, like me, you cannot go during week end, a good alternative is Arbat street, the old Arbat is simply full of souvenirs shops and street vendors selling matrioskas, old URSS flags, hats and so on.
In the street shopping is also a pleasure for the many street artists performing.
The best shop I found in the street is: Artshop Arbat street 12 opened saily 9.30 untill 20.30.

What to buy: Matrisokas, postcards, and many more local crafts.

This chain of grocery stores is similar to any you would find in North Amerika or Western Europa. Their standards of cleanliness and hygiene appear comparable and imported foods line the shelves. Products are neatly placed and categorized in standard fashion and they have modern scanners.

What to buy: Fresh meat and vegetables, sundries, beer, soft drinks, spirits, coffee, tea, cereals, bread, deli goods, whatever you normally buy in a grocery store. They even have electronic bar code readers linked to a central database.

What to pay: I paid what I think would be about 110% of what I normally pay in Chicago, less than Seattle, more than Warsaw, generally a little more than most other places.

The GUM building (formerly the Upper Gallery, built 1890-1893 and designed by A. Pomerantsev) forms the northeastern border of Red Square, the main square of Moscow and Russia. The design of the building's front side, decorated with cut rustic, is similar to that of the Kremlin and the Historical Museum. The layout of the building consists of three longitudinal three-story arcades with deep basements. The glass-roof designed by engineer V. Shukhov makes the building unique. The roof, whose diameter is 14 meters, looks light, but it is a firm construction made of over 50,000 pods (about 819 tons) of metal. Up to 1,000 private shops were located in this huge building.
GUM is well-known to every Russian. The 100-year history of this Red Square mall made it popular in Russia and abroad. Russia's best people who built GUM made it famous, since the department store remains an architectural masterpiece and a harmonic part of the Red Square architectural ensemble.
Now GUM is not only an architectural masterpiece, but also a wide network of shops in Moscow and in other regions. The high quality of goods purchased in GUM is guaranteed.

The Shopping Center “Okhotny Ryad” is situated in the very heart of Moscow in immediate proximity to Red Square, Alexandrovsky Sad, Teatralnaya Square and Tverskaya Street. One can enter the Shopping Center from the direction of “Moskva” Hotel, from Alexandrovsky Sad, from the direction of Manezh as well as straight from the underground station “Okhotny Ryad” or through a passage from an underground car park. The Shopping Center is open daily including weekends and holidays from 11.00 a.m. till 10.00 p.m. Three underground levels of the Center contain more than 100 shops, restaurants, cafes, fast food restaurants, bank branches and exchange offices, travel agencies, cash dispensers and pay phones. Unique interiors of the Shopping Center as well as its closeness to Red Square and Alexandrovsky Sad attract huge crowds of tourists and Muscovites.
Picture was taken from http://aradan.newmail.ru/Photo/Sbornic/Ohotniy%20Ryad/

What to buy: everything

Contrary to popular belief, Moscow is not a particularly cheap city - it's on a par with many western European cities in terms of cost of living.

Although it's unlikely you would want to be in Moscow for shopping alone, no doubt a few souvenirs & presents for family or friends back home never go amiss. Rather than going to GUM or heading down to the Arbat and paying inflated prices for souvenirs, take a 20 minute ride on the metro (blue line) to Izmailovsky Park for the week-end market.

Basically a huge flea market, this is the place to go for souvenirs & gifts. Turn left out of the metro & follow the throngs - the market is about a 10 minute walk from the station - don't confuse the stalls with babooshkas selling undies, socks & plastic shoes with the market - it's further along - carry on walking! When you see the mock wooden fortress - you'll know you're there.

Although there is the inevitable kitsch tourist junk, there are hundreds of stalls selling everything from matryoshka dolls (with variations on the original doll), Palekh boxes, samovars, amber jewellery, ex-Soviet memorabilia - army & navy jackets, caps & medals - coins, stamps, postcards, flags, banners, t-shirts, paintings, carpets... the list goes on! There are also some real gems like pre war cameras & binoculars.

Once you tire of haggling with the - in some cases - over-zealous stall holders, you can retreat to one of the food stalls to sample barbequed shashliki (kebabs) & recover with a bottle of Baltika (beer please - peeva pazhal'sta) or a glass of Russian cognac to warm you up!

While you're in the vacinity, Izmailovo Royal Estate where the park gets it's name from, is a 10 minute walk east of the market. This is where Peter the Great spent much of his childhood & it's a relaxing stroll after the mania of the market!

What to buy: Depending on what you're looking for & who you're buying for ... it's always better to buy something traditional like small hand painted Palekh boxes, matryoshka dolls, music boxes, or some of the other wooden toys or items.

What to pay: Again it depends on what you're buying! Be prepared to haggle with stall holders as they start off at pretty inflated prices. Don't buy the first thing as there are bound to be other places along the way that have things you may prefer or can get for less.