Modern period
In 1992, the grocery store was privatized, and the shares were transferred to the workforce,[14] and, despite low commercial results, unlike most grocery stores in central Moscow, it retained its profile. In 2002, the shares were bought from the workforce by the structures of businessman Yakubov, and the new owner sublet part of the premises. In 2003, the grocery store was renovated and reformatted into a supermarket in the remaining area, and in the period 2005–2021, the retail operator of the store was the Alye Parusa retail chain.
By the second half of the 1990s, the store became practically the only grocery store in the area, since after the end of the five-year restriction on the re-profiling of retail enterprises privatized in 1992–1993, many stores in the center of Moscow preferred to use the space for more profitable types of business or simply transfer or sell it.[15] In the late 1990s, a cafeteria with alcoholic beverages on tap was opened in the northern part of the grocery store.[16]
In 1999, a plan was developed to build a large shopping center on the site of the store and two adjacent residential buildings on Kozitsky Lane, with a total area of 40,000 m2; investments were estimated at $76 million. The project was promoted by the director of the grocery store, Vladimir Trifonov, in particular, he invited Vladimir Gruzdev's Seventh Continent retail chain as co-investors;[17] the project was subsequently rejected as violating historical planning decisions.
The grocery store's performance indicators in the early 2000s were low compared to similar enterprises: daily revenue was about 210 thousand rubles, while the Seventh Continent outlet on Okhotny Ryad, with a smaller area, earned 8 times more, and the store had a reputation among suppliers as an unreliable payer.[17]
In 2002, 90% of the shares of ZAO Eliseevsky Magazin, which had the right to a long-term lease of the grocery store premises, were bought from the workforce by structures of Yakov Yakubov, the owner of a large number of retail spaces on Tverskaya, as well as the Moscow casinos Korona and Golden Palace. The buyout was launched during the vacation of the grocery store director Trifonov, who owned a share of 18.6%. The employees were offered to sell their shares at a favorable price, and in two days the buyers managed to get more than 50%. Under these conditions, Trifonov also agreed to sell his stake, and in a short period of time, Yakubov's structures, having paid about $650 thousand, concentrated about 90% of the company's shares.[17]
The first actions of the new owner were to change the management and develop a project for the reconstruction of the store.[17] In the fall of 2002, the owners announced a competition for an "elite supermarket project" for a 750 m2 retail space in the southern part of the premises, but soon abandoned it.[14] The 230 m2 space in the northern part with an exit to Tverskaya was subleased in March 2003 to the mid-price chain restaurant "Etazh" for $35,000 per month.[18] It was reported that the owner intended to change the store's specialization and switch to selling clothing and footwear, but this option could not be agreed upon with the Moscow Government, since the grocery store remained essentially the last grocery store in the area.[14]
As of 2003, the store served no more than 1,500 customers per day, and monthly revenue was estimated at $200,000.[14]
If in Soviet times the store premises were redecorated almost every year and the formal appearance was preserved, then during the first period of independence the interiors fell into disrepair: the ceramic floor tiles were worn out, the plaster was falling off in fragments, the gilded elements were dull, and the existing lighting solution gave the shop a gloomy look.[19]
In the spring of 2003, an investment contract was concluded with the Government of Moscow, providing for the closure of the shop for reconstruction to restore the building and premises, on condition that the main profile - a grocery store - was preserved.[15] The 2003 restoration, initially estimated at $2 million and costing $3 million (excluding the cost of updated retail equipment),[20] restored part of the interior of the store from the time of Grigory Eliseev according to the original drawings. Among the recreated characteristic decorative elements are gilding on the capitals and grilles, stucco moldings, large ceiling crystal chandeliers made in the form of grape vines were restored,[21] and the Metlakh floor tiles were replaced.[19] In the center of the sales area, a high mahogany display counter was reconstructed, installed when the store opened, and painted over with black paint in Soviet times. The wine department was restored in the same room where it was located at the beginning of the 20th century, but the entrance to it is organized not from Kozitsky Lane, as it was in Eliseev's time, but from the main food sales area. As a result of the restoration, the store's format was changed: if throughout its existence the goods were displayed in display cases near the counters and behind the counters where the salespeople worked, then since 2004 the store has become a 24-hour department store, where customers themselves collect goods into baskets and pay at the checkout[14]
As of 2015, the retail area of the grocery store was 820 m2, the store premises, owned by the city and encumbered by lease agreements with a retail enterprise, are being prepared by the Moscow Government for free sale. Following the departure of the operator due to the unresolved ownership status of the premises, the store has been closed for an indefinite period since April 2021.
