What was sold in the famous Beryozka stores, and why not everyone could get into them

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Today, when there is no shortage of goods, it is difficult to imagine that a few decades ago, Soviet people could not buy the necessary thing due to a total shortage. Speculation flourished, because I wanted to dress nicely and try imported products. True, some lucky ones managed to visit the elite Beryozka store. Read what you could buy in it, why volumes of Akhmatova were sold along with American jeans, and how the government closed the chain of these stores for the sake of social justice.

Two "Birchs" - for officials and for those who had checks

In 1961, the Beryozka trade network was formed in the USSR, representing foreign exchange stores with imported goods. These elite retail outlets were visited by diplomats, athletes and artists, sometimes ordinary citizens of the field after business trips. It was almost impossible for an ordinary Soviet person to break through to the coveted counters.

Initially, two types of Berezki stores were opened. One for high-ranking officials who had foreign currency at their disposal. The second one was for those who had special certificates and checks. This happened because people working abroad tried to bring as many goods as possible with them. To prevent this from happening and the domestic market did not suffer losses, the government decided to transfer the wages of such workers to a foreign currency account. People could choose imported goods only from a special catalog, and then they were shipped to the USSR. The person received a check, with which he visited the store at home and exchanged for the desired product.

Wild prices for goods, the option of getting dollars into the budget and speculation in certificates

Foreign tourists were amazed at the high prices in the Berezka chain. The huge markup was due to the scarcity of goods sold in these stores. Such a currency-accepting network has contributed to the dollar-denominated budget replenishment. The currency was received by workers sent on business trips abroad. The same people who did not leave the USSR had to ask for dollar transfers from more fortunate friends or relatives. An underground market for selling Berezka certificates arose. At the end of the 70s, they cost 2-3 rubles, and in the eighties already 4-5 rubles. In the store, the seller could clarify where the buyer's receipt came from and even ask for supporting documents. It did happen, but not so often that speculation stopped.

What they sold and how you could buy a car

Why were people so eager to visit Berezka stores? Because they sold good-quality imported equipment, shoes, clothes. Foreigners were not particularly interested in these goods, since abroad they were considered not of very high quality, therefore they bought rare editions of books, souvenirs, and delicacies.

The trick was that the administration bought goods for these expensive stores in bulk at seasonal sales abroad, and was sold at full price and, naturally, by the piece. The main buyers were representatives of the Soviet elite.

Yes, everything was very expensive. And so that people who worked abroad and returned to their homeland, "poured" their money in "Berezka", they were offered the so-called "durable" goods. A concrete example: if a citizen had a foreign currency account in the Bank for Foreign Trade, and there was a sufficient amount on it, then he was given the opportunity to purchase a car without standing in line for many years. Foreign cars were not considered, but domestic cars had the so-called "export performance".

Scarce Russian literature next to imported jeans and cigarettes

But not only for jeans, cigarettes, shoes and equipment did Soviet people go to Beryozka. Many were attracted there by the opportunity to buy good books. In those days, some publications were issued in limited editions, and some were simply impossible to get due to the incredible popularity of the author. It was from and was offered in the foreign exchange bookstore. Blue volumes of Mandelstam, two-volume books by Anna Akhmatova, Pasternak's novels, poems by Marina Tsvetaeva - from such wealth the eyes of lovers of high-quality literature and poetry scattered, and their hands immediately took out currency or a currency check from their wallets. So poetry began to attract foreign currency to the state budget.

Liquidation of the Berezka network for the benefit of social justice

A new time has come for the slogans "Perestroika and Glasnost". A campaign was launched to fight privileges and social injustice, as a result of which, in early 1988, the USSR Government announced the destruction of the scheme for selling goods for checks and the liquidation of the famous chain of elite stores with the romantic name "Berezka".

When the citizens became aware of this, they rushed to the shops in a stream while they were still working. Huge queues of people wishing to get rid of the checks obtained by hook or by crook and exchange them for at least some goods arose near the door.

In the period 1988-1992, the former Berezka stores traded only by bank transfer, and a little later, after privatization, the chain returned to using cash. However, ordinary citizens only since 1991 have been granted the legal right to use and own officially earned foreign currency and pay for goods purchased in foreign currency "Birches". However, the joy was short-lived, because as a result, the network of these stores was recognized as unprofitable and finally liquidated.

Today no one remembers Birch. People freely travel abroad, where they can buy a lot, and the shops are filled with imported goods. But representatives of the older generation still believe that it was possible to buy the best things in the foreign currency stores of the Soviet period, which are simply not available in today's boutiques.

And some shops are becoming famous throughout the country. For example, Badayev's tenement house, on which a statue of a sad angel was depicted.