Red Square’s GUM Gets a Face Lift

Russia’s premier department store, once a dreary reminder of communism’s shortcomings, will show off a capitalist face lift this week in festivities commemorating its 100th birthday.

GUM, an imposing stone edifice on Red Square, has been transformed into a bustling shopping mall over the last year, thanks to Western retailers who have set up glitzy boutiques.

The pre-revolutionary store always boasted marble floors, elegant skylights and wrought-iron railings.

But during the Soviet era, it was known for barren shelves, weary shoppers, a rancid smell and clerks who used abacuses.

Today, GUM has chic window dressings, a cheery decor and electronic cash registers.

Prices are roughly the same as in the West--and way out of reach for most Russians--but GUM is packed with window-shoppers and the newly rich.