RED OCTOBER
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Already in the imperial era, one of the largest factories in Moscow, Einem, was located in the western part of Bolotny Island, producing sugar and later chocolate, and even supplying the imperial family. Its image was so much a part of the capital's landscape that it is said that at the same time when London was sinking into the stench and smog caused by its own factories, Moscow smelled of chocolate. After the revolution, the chocolate factory was expropriated by the Soviets who renamed it "Red October", a curiously appropriate name for its brick building. The complex was expanded and the brand became a symbol of socialism, so much so that when the Second World War broke out, Red October chocolate was in the rations of all soldiers. After this episode, it was distributed throughout the USSR and children raised in this period have all known these sweets.
Red October is today a bit like the Soho of Moscow. When Red October, now a private company, moved out of Moscow in 2007, they wanted to preserve its heritage. Work has turned the place into a cultural cluster that now includes restaurants, galleries, nightclubs, Strelka urban planning institute and offices that have created a vibrant local culture. There is still a remnant of the industrial past of the place: a small industrial store Alenka remains at the tip of the island, with its saleswomen, their regulation apron and its ridiculously low prices.
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