Department Stores

The city’s state run department stores are an oasis of Belarusian brands. They are the places where you can respond to the posters dotted around the city proclaiming “Buy Belarusian!” because you won’t find much in the way of international brands in any of them. You will however find the intoxicating atmosphere of another era, particularly in the clothes departments, where you will may feel that you’ve found yourself in the Soviet equivalents of Grace Brothers, and not just because some of the staff look like Miss Slocombe.

GUM (ГУМ)
Prospekt Nezavisimosti 21 (Проспект Независимости 21)
10:00-21:00 Mon-Sat, 10:00-19:00 Sun
Minsk’s original department store opened in 1951 and is a classic piece of Soviet architecture, both inside and out. Take a trip to the third floor to admire the small statues of posturing Soviet figures. The whole place is a bit past its sell-by date and one can only imagine what it was like trying to squeeze your way down its narrow aisles when the place was the most prestigious shop in the city, but from a tourist point of view that’s half of the attraction. There is a souvenir stall just inside the entrance by the staircase. Beyond it is a small door that leads to their gift-wrapping service.

TSUM (ЦУМ)
Prospekt Nezavisimosti 54 (Проспект Независимости 54)
09:00-21:00 Mon-Sat, 10:00-18:00 Sun
The central department store on Ploshad Yakub Kolas is a more modern version of GUM and is brighter and easier to navigate. On the second floor there is the best selection of crafts and souvenirs of any department store as well as a spirits counter and a gift-wrapping service.

Nemiga (На Немиге)
Nemiga 8 (Немига 8)
09:00-21:00 Mon-Sat, 10:00-20:00 Sun (Open until 22:00 from April-October except Sundays)
This department store is housed in one of the most striking buildings in the city centre, a huge block of flats with this place bolted onto the front. On the second floor you’ll find Belarusian and Russian glassware. The same section has some nice pottery products, all from Radashkovichi, a small town near Minsk where the factory dominates the town and is the main employer.

Belarus (Беларусь)
Zhilunovicha 4 (Жилуновича 4)
09:00-21:00 Mon-Sat, 10:00-18:00 Sun
If entering GUM takes you on a trip back to the time of Stalin then the Belarus department store is still firmly rooted in the Brezhnev era. Right by Partizanskaya metro station and the Hotel Tourist this imposing building has five floors and possibly the city’s first escalators. On the first floor you’ll find an extensive range of vodka and some souvenirs.

Start (Старт)
Dolgobrodskaya 28 (Долгобродская 28)
10:00-20:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-18:00 Sat, 10:00-17:00 Sun
Opposite the Minsk tractor factory and next to the metro station of the same name, this small department store is one of my favourites due to the eccentric range of goods. It's amazing how they fit so much into such a small space, from tiny notebooks to ludicrously heavy cast iron dumb-bells that will make you feel like a wimp.

Stolitsa (Столица)
Ploshad Nezavisimosti (Площадь Независимости)
10:00-22:00 daily
Not a department store but a three floor underground shopping centre. For a couple of years Independence Square became nothing but a big hole in the ground while this place was under construction and there were high hopes that it would be a bustling modern shopping mall, just like the one in Moscow near the Kremlin. The reality is that most of the units appear to be taken up by state run businesses and those that knew better than to offend the authorities and refuse the offer of opening an outlet here. For example there are three branches of Belarus bank. So it’s not a particularly glamorous place and because it’s in Belarus, it will be like no shopping mall you’ve visited before.