Interior ceiling of GUM Department Store in Moscow.
Main Department Store or GUM (Glavnyi Universalnyi Magazin) is a common name for the main department store in many cities of the Soviet Union and some post-Soviet states. The most famous GUM is a large store in Kitai-gorod of Moscow, facing Red Square. It is actually a shopping mall. Prior to the 1920s the place was known as the Upper Trading Rows. With the façade extending for 242 meters (265 yd) along the eastern side of Red Square, the Upper Trading Rows were built between 1890 and 1893 by Alexander Pomerantsev (responsible for architecture) and Vladimir Shukhov (responsible for engineering). The trapezoidal building features an interesting combination of elements of Russian medieval architecture and a steel framework and glass roof, a similar style to the great Victorian train stations of London. At the end of the Soviet era, GUM was partially then fully privatized, and it passed through a number of owners before it ended up in the hands of the supermarket chain Perekryostok. In May 2005, a interest was sold to Bosco di Ciliegi, a Russian luxury-goods distributor and boutique operator. As a private shopping mall, it was renamed in such a fashion that it could maintain its old abbreviation and still be called GUM. The first word "Gosudarstvennyj" has been replaced with "Glavnyj" 'main', so that GUM is now an abbreviation for "Main Department Store". It is still open today, and is 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. As of 2005, there were approximately 200 stores.
Size: 5119px × 3413px
Location: Main Department Store/ GUM eastern side of Red Square, Moscow, Russia
Photo credit: © Bill Heinsohn / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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