The St. Petersburg bookstore attracts an older generation, those who knew Russia during the Soviet Union.  The bookstore is of comfort for those who came from the former Soviet Union to, “get the items they were used to, but now cannot get anywhere else.”  Although Mikhail did mention that a mix of countries are represented among his customer base, most are from the Ukraine, Russian Federation, and Belarus. 

Mikhail has noticed that  most of his older generation readers stick to classics.  He mentioned that books by the author Boris Akunin, a USSR historical fiction writer, are “always hot.”   Many also read Russian translated biographies of both contemporary and historical figures written by American author’s.  Most of the books in the bookstore are written by American author’s and then translated into Russian because St. Petersburg has noticed that the older generation of immigrant’s have started to have an interest in American books and contemporary author’s but could not read them because of their lack of English.  Contemporary books like Fifty Shades of Grey and biographies of figures such as Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs have all been translated into Russian.

Interestingly, one small shelf in the Brighton Beach bookstore catered to newly arrived immigrants and contained translated pamphlets such as driver’s manuals and steps to becoming a US Citizen.

Also for those who are not Russian, or are children of immigrants who have lost touch with the Russian language and hope to learn Russian they have a shelf dedicated to work books and tapes to help learn the language.  Mikhail also mentioned that those who are not from Russian descent usually come in solely for souvenirs.

Today, Russian immigrants are spread out amongst the five boroughs and nationwide which places St. Petersburg into the national market.  St.  Petersburg now has two locations, one in the densely Russian populated Brighton Beach and  another newly opened location in Manhattan.  However, Russian customers who live in other New York City boroughs or live nationwide either get their items shipped from their online store or travel by transit to the store because it is the sole authentic Russian store in New York City.

Interview of St. Petersburg Queens Customer:

(00:15) I was wondering if you can explain why you like this store and if you’ve been a long time customer.

I really like this store, I’ve been going there for a very long time.  First of all, they have various interesting books that are translated from English to Russian.  I also like the various exotic matryoshki, you know everything old, it reminds me of Russia.  Second of all, I go with pleasure because the people here are great.  They meet you warmly and no matter what my question or what I need they always help me, I come out very pleased…”do they usually speak in Russian?” Yes they speak in Russian but if you speak English they’ll answer in English, but I mostly speak Russian and thats why they with pleasure answer all of my questions.   I really am very pleased with this store, I hope God will let this store last and that there will always be more of a variety for us to choose from.  I also suggest for you to use the store, to read more, learn Russian properly…”Yes I’ve been to this store I noticed they do have books where you can learn Russian, they also have children’s books.  Do you usually go solely to buy things for yourself or for your family as well?  I most definitely go mostly for my grandchildren, for my kids.  Also, I buy many children’s toys that I find amusing and I like.  The toys really remind me of  the USSR, where I lived and I remain very close to my heritage.

(02:06) Who’s your favorite author?

My favorite author is Sergei Yesenin…Do they have him at the bookstore?  Yes they do.  They have Yesenin and Lermontov and Pushkin and many classical author’s really.  You can even find biographies of Marx, Engels and Lenin! It’s really a great bookstore.