Self-Service Stores (entry)

Categories / Economy/Commerce
SELF-SERVICE STORES, self-service food department stores. The first national self-service store was opened under the name of Frunzensky at 90 Bukharestskaya Street on 3 September 1970, designed by Giprotorg Institute and built by architect O. A. Velikoretskaya and engineers E. A. Kuznetsov, A. D. Strakhov, and L. S. Kitaytseva, the walls of the prism-shaped building glazed between widely spaced pylons to open the shop floor to the street and the broad aluminium sheet frieze encircling the building along its perimeter with the Russian letter У as an identifying sign. The sales floor area of the store was 1,200 m2. With shop equipment arranged in lines, commodity groups efficiently laid out, and 15 state-of-the-art cashier stations, the store could accommodate 10 to 12 thousand customers daily; the actual number of purchases made daily reached as high as 17,000. Frunzensky traded in packaged food only, most products packed right in the store behind a glass partition, making the process visible to customers. The storage area was located in the back of the building, and offices were placed right above on the mezzanine floor; conveniences included a canteen, a cloakroom, and showers. There were 30 self-service stores operating in Leningrad by 1980. Frunzensky was reconstructed in 2002; its exterior was completely redesigned. Many large self-service stores sprang up in St. Petersburg in the 1990s, such as Nakhodka, Pyaterochka, Kopeyka, Lenta, Dixi, etc.

Reference: Мирошин А. У. Ленинградские универсамы // СиАЛ. 1971. № 1. С. 18-19.

V. G. Avdeev. Kitaytseva L.S.
Kuznetsov E.A.
Strakhov A.D.
Velikoretsky O.A.
Bukharestskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 90
Мирошин А. У. Ленинградские универсамы // Стр-во и архитектура Ленинграда, 1971 Frunzensky Supermarket
1970