Polaroid Hopes to Become Instant Hit in Moscow

Polaroid Corp., the company that launched instant photography four decades ago, today began offering cameras and snap-shot pictures for rubles in Moscow.

As part of a Soviet-American joint venture, Polaroid opened a store on Leninski Prospect, a main central Moscow street, where Soviet shoppers can examine the latest equipment and have instant photos taken.

“We think the cameras will be as popular in the Soviet Union as they were in 1948 when we began selling in the West,” said Sheldon Buckler, vice president of Cambridge, Mass.-based Polaroid.

But cameras will not be sold over the counter during the first year in order to limit the number available to Soviet citizens, Buckler said. To acquire a Polaroid camera, they must place an order through social organizations or through their employers.

The firm plans to make a profit from its ruble sales by manufacturing camera equipment with Soviet labor and then shipping the goods out of the country to be sold for foreign currency in the West, he said. The ruble is not convertible.

Polaroid decided to limit the number of cameras being sold for rubles during the first year until enough equipment can be made in the Soviet Union to cover expenses.