The Central Children's Store on Lubyanka is a landmark building and shopping mall located in the historic center of Moscow, in Lubyanka Square. Commissioned in 1957, for several decades it has been the largest children's department store in the Soviet Union. Despite the nod towards its name and origin, at present the shopping center is to a large extent dedicated to baby and children's goods and family entertainment and other offers and services.
The opening of the mall after renovation took place on March 31, 2015. The main trustees surrounded by children winded up the mechanism of the clock “Raketa”, mounted in the main atrium of the building. The clockwork, weighing over 4,5 tons, was created at the oldest factory in Russian – the “Raketa” watch-making factory at Petrodvorets.[1] The building occupies almost a one hectare (10,000 m2) site and has 200 stores covering 35 000 m2 of retail space. Over 30% of the leaseable area is allocated for youth and a family edutainment and leisure activities, over 20% to dining and services.
History
The building of the main children's department store in the Soviet Union, which was then called “Detsky Mir” (meaning "Children's World"), was designed by a Soviet architect Alexey Dushkin and commissioned in 1957.[2]