Bloomingdale’s Enters Talks on Opening Moscow Outlets

Bloomingdale’s, the venerable New York chain that claims it’s “like no other store in the world,” is hoping to be the first U.S. retailer to enter the Soviet market.

In a telephone interview, Bloomingdale’s chairman, Marvin Traub, confirmed that the 17-store chain is negotiating with the Moscow city council to open two shops in the Soviet capital sometime next year.

“We are hoping to open one store in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and another in a Moscow hotel,” Traub said.

He denied reports in Sunday’s edition of the official Soviet newspaper Pravda that said Bloomingdale’s already had signed an agreement with the city council to open the stores.

The Soviet Bloomies would accept only hard currency that can be converted internationally, not rubles, the currency with which most ordinary Soviets trade. Although most Soviets are prohibited from using hard currency, Traub said the stores would not just be for tourists.

“The stores would be targeted to tourists and other Westerners, but they would also serve Russian citizens,” he said. He would not comment on the terms of the agreement, described by Pravda as a joint venture.

The stores would be about 2,000 to 5,000 square feet and would carry a merchandise mix similar to that found in the Bloomie’s Express stores at Kennedy Airport, which sell exclusive goods with the Bloomingdale’s label for men, women, children and the home.