GUM: The Soviet Department Store
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The communist ideal of the past has radically changed to a symbol of flourishing capitalism
Red Square: Kremlin to your left, GUM to your right
Государственный Универсальный Магазин, (गोसुदार्वेन्नीई उनीवेअरसाल्नीई मगाझीन / Gosudarstvennyi Universalnyi Magazin – गुम/GUM) or simply known as the State Department Store during Soviet times, is a beautiful building on the north side of the Red Square.
GUM
Soviet era: By the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the building contained some 1,200 stores. After the Revolution, the GUM was nationalised and continued to work as a department store until Joseph Stalin turned it into office space in 1928 for the committee in charge of his first Five Year Plan. After reopening as a department store in 1953, the GUM became one of the few stores in the Soviet Union that was not plagued by shortages of consumer goods, and the queues to purchase anything were long, often extending all across Red Square.
GUM at night, with the iconic St. Basil’s cathedral
Post communism: At the end of the Soviet era, GUM was partially and then fully privatized. It is open today as a popular tourist destination for those visiting Moscow. Many of the stores feature high-fashion brand names familiar in the west; locals refer to these as the “exhibitions of prices”, the joke being that no one could afford to actually buy any of the items on display. I agree, the prices were ridiculous.
The swanky shopping mall
Indeed, one of my fashion-conscious friends joked, “We go to London or Paris for shopping.” 
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Reminds me of one of the mega-malls in Ankara. The prices are so high they might as well have read “ridiculous” or “haha good luck buying this”.
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I read an article that described how these stores are subsidized by big brands – since the cost of owning stores like that is less than the cost of advertising. hehe!
↵To be honest, i sometimes feel that with some of the foriegn brands that have come to India’s swanky malls who apply direct forex rates to prices in London. Like M&S, which is a regular brand abroad, costing a bomb here… but, they still find buyers!!!
↵Oh I totally agree and I thought that was crazy when I visited India last year. The prices of some of the items were equal or even more than the prices I find here. I don’t know why because most clothes are made in India, and it should be cheaper there. Perhaps there are people who can pay, and others have to suffer…
↵It’s like the “friendship stores” in China, aka state-owned stores. Nobody ever shop there anymore.
↵Friendship stores? Friendship with whom…. not with common people I guess!
I’m a bit wary of all things China calls ‘friendship’. In 1961, they called a border post with India “Indo-China Friendship post” and within months attacked it.
↵I guess most malls are meant for window shopping as they become destinations to see rather than shop
↵So true! Atleast we are able to see latest fashion trends on display!
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