"Children's World"...


Stalin has been dead for four years and now Nikita Khrushchev is firmly in the saddle. The new boss decides to offer the Muscovites something to keep them happy.

And so, on June 6, 1957, the first "Detskij Mir" shop (= "World of Children"/"Children's World") opens at Moscow.







With an area of over 52,000 square meters, it is the largest toy store in Europe!



And the children (and their parents too) see the new shop as a kind of paradise after decades of Stalinist austerity...:













In addition to toys, the "Detskij Mir" also sells children's clothing and other goods tailored to children - for the Soviet Union, where consumer goods have played a rather minor role up to now, not only something completely new, but downright a sensation!





The business goes up in the following period:

At the end of 2007, the now privatized retail chain already had 96 shops (with a total sales area of more than 170,000 square meters in 47 Russian cities - the main focus is on the Moscow and St. Petersburg regions with around 40 "Detskij Mir" branches...:

"Stalinist Austerity" LOL. Wow.