Social upheaval in Aisle 6
December 2nd, 2005
“On a grey November afternoon, Hyundais, Peugeots and Mitsubishis curl off a
rain-slicked freeway and flood into the parking lot of one of suburban Moscow’s
newest shopping malls. To the east, a storey-tall sign announces Ashan, a
French-owned supermarket. In the middle is “Mega,” a Russian department store.
But the biggest draw is to the west, where a Swedish flag sways above the
blue-and-yellow box store, IKEA.
In western eyes, it is all very familiar and not terribly interesting. It’s
just a shopping mall. Granted, the grocery superstore is impressively large,
with 76 check-outs and supervisors who scoot around on roller blades. And the
smoking section in IKEA’s cafeteria is little jarring (Moscow’s chain-smoking
citizenry also finds it a little novel as it means there is a non-smoking
section). But still, it is a picture of middle-class life at its most routine,
the same bourgeois-bland scene found in any suburb from Stockholm to
Ottawa…”
just a shopping mall. Granted, the grocery superstore is impressively large,
with 76 check-outs and supervisors who scoot around on roller blades. And the
smoking section in IKEA’s cafeteria is little jarring (Moscow’s chain-smoking
citizenry also finds it a little novel as it means there is a non-smoking
section). But still, it is a picture of middle-class life at its most routine,
the same bourgeois-bland scene found in any suburb from Stockholm to
Ottawa…”
Dan Gardner
The Ottawa Citizen
Image: “IKEA Moskva” by R. K. Senya
