Soviets Experience U.S. Capitalism : Countywide
Russian entrepreneur Georgi Galyatkin launched his retail clothing business almost two years ago from three kiosks he built and set up along a busy St. Petersburg street.
Now he’s about to expand into an actual boutique. And to gain some capitalist experience, he is spending a month working in an Ojai store as part of a unique U. S.-Soviet exchange program.
Galyatkin is among 12 Soviets who arrived last week to work at various businesses in Ventura County through the San Francisco-based Enterprise Development Program.
Created last year, the program is designed to teach Soviets how U. S. businesses are managed. The Soviet Union’s recent reforms and its leap toward a free-market economy has opened the door for small, private enterprises such as Galyatkin’s shop.
“A year ago, I would never have been able to open my boutique,” Galyatkin, 39, said Tuesday. When he returns to Russia, he will open a 600-square-foot shop that he has leased.
For the month, he’s working at Rains department store, where he is learning all aspects of retail sales--from advertising to dealing with customers.
It took him eight months to maneuver through Soviet red tape to obtain space for his shop, Octopus, named for the eight Soviet regions from which his clothing and other items come via a gray market, he said.
Before he went into retail sales, Galyatkin was a refrigeration engineer.
Because of low pay, he sold watermelons during his summer vacation from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. to make ends meet. He lives with his wife and 11-year-old son in a four-room apartment.
“It was not only the money” that caused him to change careers, he said. “It’s a type of life. I feel this is my own deal.”
The 12 Soviets have been assigned to work and study at a variety of businesses, including a law firm, architectural firm, bank, real estate office, school, travel agency and auto dealership. During their stay, they live at their host’s home or with other employees.
Four are working at Ojai businesses, including Karina Atanesian, who is spending the month at the Tottenham Court gift shop and tea room.
Atanesian, an Armenian, plans to open a shop featuring handmade Armenian crafts in her native Yerevan. For the past 20 years, she has taught English at the college level.
In Ojai, she is learning everything from bookkeeping and gift wrapping to customer relations.
In the Soviet Union, salespeople are rude, she said, but they shouldn’t be blamed because the businesses are government-owned and clerks don’t care whether a sale is made.
“Here, the customer is your best friend,” she said.
