Eliseevsky store in Moscow

Eliseevsky store is a famous department store in the historical center of the Russian capital, famous for its luxurious neo-Baroque interiors and large selection of rare goods and exotic wines. The food store was opened in Moscow in 1901 by the wealthy merchant Grigory Eliseev.

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Video: Eliseev’s store

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Highlights

The house in which the store is located was built in the late 18th century and went through several reconstructions. During the Soviet years, the store was called “Gastronome No. 1”. During the times of total deficit it was known all over the USSR. Only here you could buy unusual products and drinks that never appeared on the trade counters in other cities of the country.

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In 1992, the company was privatized, and unlike most food outlets in the city, managed to maintain its profile. Eleven years later, the deli was repurposed into a department store. Nowadays, the old Eliseevsky store has been transformed into a modern shopping center, which is very popular among the city residents and tourists coming to Moscow. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has a retail area of 820 square meters. m.

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People go into the beautiful building to buy food, delicacies and Russian souvenirs. Many people stop by the Eliseevsky store to admire the rich museum interiors and the portrait of its first owner, Grigory Eliseev. Sellers and administrators have undergone special training and like professional guides tell visitors about the history of the famous store and its traditions.

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How the store was opened

At the end of the 18th century, Grigory Vasilyevich Kozitsky, the cabinet secretary of the Russian Empress Catherine II, asked the famous Russian architect Matvey Kazakov to build a luxurious mansion for his wife. And in 1924 Kozitsky’s granddaughter Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya came up with the idea to open a popular literary salon in the house. A. Pushkin and P. Vyazemsky, E. Baratynsky and A. Mickiewicz visited the hospitable hostess.

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Then the mansion changed several owners, and mostly it was owned by wealthy families of Moscow merchants. By the end of the 19th century, a store with large mirrored windows welcomed visitors on the lower floor of the building, and families of wealthy Muscovites lived upstairs.

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In 1898, the historic building was bought by the St. Petersburg merchant Grigory Eliseev, who owned the largest gastronome on Nevsky Prospekt. He invited the architect Gavriil Vasilyevich Baranovsky, who had worked for the Eliseev family for many years and had built lucrative houses and stores for merchants in various Russian cities. Baranovsky carried out the reconstruction project and received from the owner the right to choose the finishing materials and contractors himself. The mansion was stitched up tightly in wooden scaffolding, and curious Muscovites have long wondered about the purpose of the construction site in the very center of Moscow.

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The grand remodeling took three years. Baranovsky dismantled the white marble staircase and, combining the ground floor and mezzanine, created a spacious trading hall. The architect used large columns with gilded capitals, plafonds on the vaults, elegant arches and luxurious crystal chandeliers to decorate the premises in neo-Baroque style.

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Then the store of Eliseev was opened here. The lavish ceremony was attended by many distinguished guests, and these celebrations were described by Vladimir Gilyarovsky in one of the stories that were included in the collection “Moscow and Muscovites.”

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How customers were served

Every day the Eliseevsky store was visited by 400 to 500 people. Its counters were bursting with a variety of snacks. Here one could buy different kinds of tea and coffee, fine wines, rum, cereals, olive oil, cheese, various sausages, truffles, anchovies and fresh fruit. A special section was reserved for Baccarat crystal products made in France. The sellers came up with the idea of laying out the goods in large pyramids, which emphasized the abundance. And this tradition was later used in Soviet trade.

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In the Eliseevsky store worked a lot of its own production. Bread and rolls were baked by small bakeries. In the back rooms, wines and drinks were bottled, jams, marmalades were made, and coffee was roasted. Sausage, butter-pressing, salting and smoking stores were operated at the store.

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The owner selected salesmen who knew several foreign languages. They could easily connect with customers and were well informed about the habits of the regulars. Cheerful doormen carried the purchased goods to the carriages waiting for customers.

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Gastronome No. 1

While the card system was in effect in the young Soviet Republic, the store did not operate. Since 1921, during the NEP period, it began to be called “Gastronome No. 1”, but Muscovites stuck to the old name – “Eliseevsky store”. In the 1930s, only here you could freely buy pineapples.

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When the Great Patriotic War began, the gastronome, as well as all commercial enterprises of the city, switched to card service. In mid-October 1941, at the time of a real threat to Moscow there was an uncontrollable panic, and all stored in the Eliseevsky store stocks of food were plundered by the crowds of evacuees. The next year the store was closed to ordinary residents and used as a special distribution center for party and Soviet officials.

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At the end of the war, food began to be sold here at high commercial prices. Although expensive, demand was very high as the country was living under severe food shortages. The goods in the gastronome were named in the old manner. The shelves were lined with landrine (candy) and French rolls.

Abuse in the Eliseevsky store happened repeatedly. In 1950, the head of the commercial department Ushakov was sentenced to a prison term. And in the 1980s, the management of the store was convicted in the “Eliseevsky case”. During the investigation, it was found that in the grocery store corruption flourished and there was illegal sale of products. The director of the famous shopping center, Yuri Sokolov, was found guilty and shot.

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The store these days

Since 2005, the owner of the historic gastronome is the retail chain “Alye Parusa”, so all customers enjoy the right of discount discounts valid in all department stores of this chain. In Eliseevsky store you can buy a discount card and get 10% discount on all goods during the year. In addition to cash, bank cards are accepted here.

In the Eliseevsky store you can buy a variety of confectionery products made by masters in their own production. Exclusive handmade chocolate is especially popular.

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In the “Culinaria” department a rich assortment of ready-made dishes is exhibited daily, most of which are made according to the best recipes of traditional Russian cuisine. These are sturgeon bay, Moscow borscht, Boyarsky salad, fillet of salmon with low salt, pickled mushrooms and pickled cucumbers.

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From the counters where there are semi-finished meat products, the eyes run wild! Most of the delicacies sold in the department store are of their own production. In Eliseevsky store people buy chilled rabbit, pikeperch in Moldavian style, sturgeon kebab, fresh marble beef, homemade roast and perfectly cooked cutlets.

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How to get there

The Eliseevsky store is just a five-minute walk from the Tverskaya, Chekhovskaya, and Pushkinskaya Moscow metro stations (14 Tverskaya Street). It stands at the intersection of Tverskaya Street and Kozitsky Lane. From the metro you should walk towards the city center, towards the Moscow Kremlin.

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