What Crisis? Finding Solace in the Supermarket

By Tom Blackwell, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, The PBN Company, Moscow

In the autumn of 2007, when the west was reeling with the effects of the financial crisis, Russia seemed to be an ostrov stabilnosti - a safe haven - from the doom and gloom. Now nearly two years have passed, and the crisis is definitely everywhere in Moscow.  Wherever you go, whomever you talk to, it is obviously that the impact of the economic downturn is crippling.  And what’s worse, the financial crisis has without a doubt led to a crisis of confidence in society - confidence in government, confidence in business and confidence in the economy as a whole.

So you can imagine my relief when I discovered a place to hide, a place where confidence remains sky high.  Just walk into any Azbuka Vkusa, an upscale supermarket chain - particularly the one on Moscow’s Kutuzovsky Prospekt - and you find that the wonderful ostrov stabilnosti that we used to talk so much about is still going strong.  Only now its clear that the haven is not Russia as a country, but rather a small chain of sickly green grocery stores dotted about town.

As I went to the cash register to buy a loaf of black bread and small bottle of fresh orange juice one evening after work, I was at first surprised, but then relieved, that these two items came to more than $20.  Surprised, because it was patently exorbitant.  Relieved, because it brought back pre-crisis memories of the days when Moscow was known for its over-priced, flashy shopping.

I spend most of my day looking at the negative impact of the crisis, and by evening I am ready for escape.  And that’s exactly what I achieve when I stop off at my local Azbuka Vkusa - a world that is evidently far removed from the crisis, the veritable safe haven so needed in these times of insecurity.

Possibly related posts:

1. Have It Your Way / Ешь, что хочешь - Burger King in Russia
2. Psychoanalysis or Retail Therapy: (Not) Spending in the Crisis
3. Fighting the Crisis by Rebuilding Confidence
4. Russians Up in Arms Over the Crisis?
5. Russia: Deepening Crisis or Road to Recovery?