End of an Era

The Soviet era coop across the street from our apartment building is closing. The store contained three departments: Household Items, Tools and Groceries. For a 4-month period in 2005, I was in this store literally every day buying something that was needed for our apartment remodel. A bag of cement here. A new drill bit there. Two cans of liquid foam one day. Three the next. You get the idea. The ladies that worked behind the counter became my early language helpers.

"What do you call those plastic insert thingies for drilling mounting screws into brick?"

How incredibly convenient it was to have this store so close during our transition to life in Novosibirsk. With no car, it was really a tremendous blessing to be able to pop over in a couple minutes for various things. I am sad.

What's next?

Worst Case Scenario: Another downtown clothing boutique selling $350 pairs of jeans OR yet another slot-machine gambling casino. (We've heard rumors that within two years the government will close down the plethora of money-laundering casinos in Novosibirsk. They have already started to do so in Moscow and St. Petersburg.)

Best Case: A new Holiday Classic supermarket.

I'm not holding my breath for the latter.