Moscow’s Sidewalk Kiosks

“Since the end of Soviet era, the pervasive sight of kiosks selling everything under-the-sun has becomes a feature of the Russian landscape. In any city of Russia you will find rows of kiosks, often purveying strange mixes of products. Some may carry mostly liquor, others cigarettes and magazines, still others will have some items of clothing, a few candy bars, a bit of food, some cosmetics, a few cans of beer of soft drinks, and so on.”

– Food on the Move: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 1996 by Harlan Walker.

Many Muscovites find kiosks a convenient place to shop, while others hate them, claiming that kiosks don’t fit into the city architecture. Ex-Mayor of Moscow, Youri Luzhkov, was the strong opposer of kiosks and food stands. He organized a large-scale removal of kiosks. Movement particularly targeted areas around subway stations. However, Moscow residents had mixed feelings about this. Although, moving around the city became more comfortable, small business owners lost their income, and customers complained that grocery stores were not as convenient as kiosks.

So, kiosks are gradually making come back in Moscow.

While noting the changes in kiosk architecture, Russian photo blogger Varlamov published a collection of vintage photos of Moscow kiosks for others to see and compare how they used to look like during the Soviet era.