Vedmedyk

Vedmedyk (pronounced 'Vedmedyk'; Ukrainian for 'little bear'; sometimes rendered Medvedyk) is a historic confectionery shop in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It opened in 1900 on Mykolayivska Square (today Constitution Square, building 11) as the branded retail store of the Zhorzh Borman Trading House, the Russian confectionery enterprise founded by entrepreneur Georgy Borman, whose Kharkiv biscuit and chocolate factory dates to 1896. The shop's interior was modelled on the 'Yeliseyev' style of the famous Yeliseyev grocery stores in Moscow and St Petersburg, and it was the first shop in Kharkiv to be lit by electric lighting. It acquired the name 'Vedmedyk' in the 1970s, having previously traded as 'Konditerskiye izdeliya' ('Confectionery products'). The store is located in the building of the Kotlyarevsky University of Arts. It is regarded as one of the oldest single-profile shops in Ukraine and is included in many of Kharkiv's tourist routes as a historical landmark. Until 2002 the shop belonged to the Kharkivchanka confectionery factory on Katsarska Street — the successor of Borman's original factory — and since 2002 it has been part of the Kharkiv Biscuit Factory (ЗАО Харьковская бисквитная фабрика), whose official website hosts the shop's history page. Vedmedyk sells confectionery products associated with the Borman tradition: chocolate, chocolate sweets, caramel, monpensier, marmalade, jams, biscuits and gingerbread. Its long continuity, ornate historic interior and central location have made it a symbol of Kharkiv's commercial heritage.

The history of Vedmedyk begins with the Russian entrepreneur Georgy Borman, who in 1896 founded a factory in Kharkiv for the production of biscuits and chocolate under the Zhorzh Borman company (the present-day successor of that factory is the Kharkivchanka confectionery factory). The factory's range consisted mainly of inexpensive products accessible to a broad circle of consumers: chocolate, chocolate sweets, caramel and monpensier in tins, marmalade, various jams, biscuits and gingerbread. The branded retail store of the Zhorzh Borman Trading House in Kharkiv opened in 1900 in the Gladky apartment building on Mykolayivska Square (today Constitution Square, building 11). Its interior was not inferior in beauty to the capital's palaces and museums: it was decorated in the 'Yeliseyev' style of the shops of the merchant Yeliseyev on Tverskaya Street and Nevsky Prospect. It was the first shop in Kharkiv to be illuminated by electric lighting. In total, four shops of the Zhorzh Borman partnership operated in Kharkiv before 1915; two more were later opened on Rybnaya Street, building 3 (Kooperativnaya Street) and Yekaterinoslavskaya Street, building 4 (today Poltavsky Shlyakh). Opposite the shop in the Gladky apartment building, in the building of the Brotherhood House of the Assumption Cathedral on the same Mykolayivska Square, there was a fourth shop where Zhorzh Borman products could also be bought. In the post-war period it was converted into the popular city cafe 'Vostochnyye sladosti' ('Oriental Sweets'), which closed in the early 2000s. After the Great Patriotic War the shop was called 'Konditerskiye izdeliya' ('Confectionery products') on Tevelev Square, and its original interior was restored. Not later than 1974 it was renamed 'Vedmedyk'. Until 2002 the shop belonged to the Kharkivchanka confectionery factory on Katsarska Street, formerly called the Georgy Borman factory. Since 2002 the Vedmedyk shop has belonged to the Kharkiv Biscuit Factory (ЗАО Харьковская бисквитная фабрика). It is included in many tourist routes of the city of Kharkiv as a historical landmark.

• 2002

  The shop passes from the Kharkivchanka confectionery factory to the Kharkiv Biscuit Factory (ЗАО).

• 1974

  The shop is renamed 'Vedmedyk' no later than this year.

• 1915

  Four Zhorzh Borman shops are operating in Kharkiv.

• 1900

  The branded retail store of the Zhorzh Borman Trading House opens on Mykolayivska Square in Kharkiv.

• 1896

  Georgy Borman founds a biscuit and chocolate factory in Kharkiv under the Zhorzh Borman company.

Historic, heritage confectionery shop and tourist landmark in central Kharkiv.

• Chocolate

• Chocolate sweets

• Caramel

• Monpensier in tins

• Marmalade

• Jam

• Biscuits

• Gingerbread

1. 1Vedmedyk — Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Ведмедик — Википедияru.wikipedia.org
3. 3Магазин «Ведмедик» — официальный сайт ЗАО Харьковская бисквитная фабрикаbiscuit.com.ua