This year's Christmas and New Year's holiday season has brought Moscow more Western-style promotions and sales than ever. Meanwhile, however, some Russian managers still cannot drop the habit of hiking prices on the eve of the new year, city officials say.
Pavel Marychev, director of the Moscow pricing policy department, said in an interview that food prices were rising by an average of 7 percent a week in December. That compares to a 14.1 percent general inflation rate for the entire month of November.
"We're talking about basic foodstuffs, like milk, bread and butter," Marychev said. "Retailers hike prices several times a year, but always before New Year's."
He said that as many as half of Moscow's food stores were hiking prices to take advantage of high holiday demand. According to some retailers, sales volumes have jumped by as much as 40 percent in the past week.
Marina, a salesperson at a private food store just off Leningradsky Prospect in northern Moscow, said prices of meat products at the shop went up by about 25 percent just before the holiday season began.
"I think my managers need more money on the eve of the new year," Marina said.
The price hikes for basic foodstuffs come as major foreign consumer-goods firms and small Russian retailers alike are offering an array of discounts and special deals to attract holiday buyers.
The marketing methods, which only became prevalent in Moscow last year, are still something of a novelty in a country where shops did not need to compete or attract The Dutch firm Philips, for example, is offering discounts of up to 15 percent on the price of its electronic goods, as is Servis-Tsentr, a small Russian electronics shop on Novy Arbat.
The joint-venture Arbat Irish House is selling a range of goods, including clothing, toys and electronics at a 20 percent discount. The same is true for selected food products downstairs at the Russian-owned Novoarbatsky store, whose customers can also enjoy free samples of soup, mints and whisky. A mink coat can be had for 5 percent off at the Vadim-2 store on Tverskaya Ulitsa.
Even a small shoe-repair shop near the Tsaritsyno metro station in southern Moscow announced a 50-percent discount until Jan. 1, attracting customers from all over the area.
Marychev said that shop managers who had hiked prices were simply not competent enough to pursue modern marketing strategies.
"Shops can make a bigger profit on turnover," Marychev said. "But too many businessmen tend to take the easiest route and simply raise prices."
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