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5 entrepreneurs of the Russian Empire who created great companies
Stars of pre-revolutionary business
It has always been difficult to do business in Russia, but success stories have happened. Sometimes former serfs turned into magnates due to their tenacity and entrepreneurial vein.
Today we tell the story of five entrepreneurs of the Russian Empire who managed to build a large business.
Alexander ChichkinThe merchant of the first guild Alexander Chichkin changed the dairy market of his time. Before he opened a store "Milk" on Bolshaya Dmitrovka, the product was sold exclusively on the streets and markets. In a few years he managed to build a network. In 1914, he had 91 shops, two dairy plants and a cottage cheese and sour cream branch, 40 oil harvesting stations. The plant processed 100-150 tons of milk per day. The firm "A.V. Chichkin" employed 3000 people.
The entrepreneur paid a lot of attention to marketing: all shops were lined with snow-white tiles, the clerks were dressed in snow-white uniforms, there were unprecedented cash registers in the hall, which guaranteed an honest attitude to customers. Every evening, fresh milk in canons was solemnly brought to shops, and yesterday’s product was publicly poured into the sewers on the street in the morning.
By 1917, the fixed capital of the enterprise was more than 10 million rubles. After the revolution, Chichikov’s entire business was nationalized. He could not avoid exile: he had to spend two years in Northern Kazakhstan, until Molotov and Mikoyan rescued him from there. Then Chichkin became an ordinary Soviet pensioner, but still participated in the development of plans and projects for the development of the dairy industry in the USSR.
Stepan AbrikosovThe ancestor of the family Stepan Abrikosov was a serf, his family supplied sweets to the bar table - pastille and jam from apricots (hence the name). In 1804, the 64-year-old Stepan was free and soon opened an artel family production in Moscow. Sweets were bought here for parties and weddings, soon they managed to open a fruit and pastry shop. The fame of the Apricots grew.
In 1820, after Stepan's death, production passed to his sons Ivan and Vasily. But the pace set by the father, they could not maintain. After 20 years, they lost production due to debts. It seemed that the well-known family business ceased to exist, but by that time Stepan’s grandson, Alexei, had grown up. He was a talented young man, especially interested in accounting. He decided to revive the family business and organized home production: the Abrikosovs cooked jam again, made candy and baked gingerbread. To reduce the cost of production, he began to buy fruit in the Crimea, and later was the first to establish year-round deliveries of fruit to Moscow. His goal was to make the production really big. As a result, 30 years later, by 1872, Alexei had 40 confectionery workshops, which employed 120 workers. A total of 512 tons of sweets were produced per year.
Alexey's sons continued the work. They created a partnership and built a factory. By the beginning of the XX century, the business of Abrikosov became one of the leaders of the confectionery market of the country. Its annual turnover was 2.5 million rubles.
After the revolution, families were nationalized. In 1922, the factory was named after the Bolshevik Peter Babayev, but for several years the name of the Abrikosovs remained on the labels to attract attention. Some family members managed to flee abroad, but others failed to escape arrest.
Peter SmirnovPeter Smirnov came from a family of serfs who brewed and sold wine on holidays. Having received his freedom, Peter’s father and uncle decided to make the wine business their main business. Peter since childhood worked in this field: first he became a clerk for his father, and then founded a small winery.
The case of Peter Smirnov developed rapidly: the number of cellars, factories, warehouses, shops increased, and brand recognition grew. The secret of success was the impeccable reputation of the entrepreneur and his good connections in the trade sphere. He worked with relatives who did not dare to let him down or cheat, and used only high-quality raw materials: key water, alcohol from bread grains (not beets), good fruits and berries.
The last Peter was looking for himself: he went to the regional farms, extracting unknown varieties. Smirnov’s company produced wine, liqueurs, tinctures, vodka and pourings – more than 400 items in total. The technical equipment of its plants was constantly updated, the company quickly became the largest in the world and received international recognition. Smirnov became a supplier of the imperial court and received the right to place the coat of arms of the Russian Empire on labels (now the quality of its products was guaranteed by the state). He also supplied alcohol to the court of the King of Sweden, opened branches in London, Paris and New York.
At the end of the XIX century, Smirnov’s income fell sharply: the state decided to take control of the alcohol market and introduced a “wine monopoly”. He was still a very rich man, his fortune was estimated at almost 9 million rubles, but difficulties in business undermined his health, and in 1898 he died. Peter’s son Vladimir fled the country after the revolution and created the Smirnoff brand. In Russia, the brand revived only after the collapse of the USSR.
Grigory EliseevGrigory Eliseev was born into a wealthy family. His great-grandfather also sold expensive foreign goods in Russia: wine, tropical fruits, oysters and truffles. For their delivery, the company had its own merchant fleet: four sailboats and a steamer. At the age of 32, he inherited a trading empire with a fixed capital of 3 million rubles. He established the “Trade Partnership of the Eliseev Brothers” and began to manage business at his own discretion. In the first year of operation, the turnover of the enterprise amounted to 64 million rubles.
Once Eliseev had a bold idea: to arrange an exhibition of vintage wines in Paris. It's hard to surprise the French with wine, but the young entrepreneur succeeded. He was even awarded the Legion of Honor. The furor strengthened Eliseev’s position in the market.
Two years later, the entrepreneur bought a house on Tverskaya and instructed the best specialists to turn it into a miracle of architecture. The work was completed by 1901, when the "Eliseyev's Shop and the Cellar of Russian and Foreign Wine" was opened. Here they sold gastronomic luxury: wines, fruits, sweets, colonial groceries, crystal. Everything was fresh, clean, of high quality. It was the first universal food store in the country.
In 1914, a tragedy occurred in the Eliseev family: Grigory’s wife committed suicide because of his falling in love with another. The sons refused the inheritance and broke off relations with their father, Eliseev married again, quickly and with scandal, and went to Paris. In 1918, his property was nationalized.
Pavel BurePavel Bure Jr. was the grandson of a German-born Russian businessman who founded a watchmaking firm. Initially, the Bure factory was located in St. Petersburg, but Pavel, having inherited the production, decided to buy the plant in Switzerland. He managed to make the business really big.
The most famous product of the Buret was the gift watches that the emperor gave to diplomats, officials and cultural figures. It is known that during the reign of Alexander III was awarded 3,477 gift hours in the amount of 277,472 rubles, the vast majority of them were from the company "Buret".
In addition, the company produced prize products for officers of the Russian army, as well as simple watches: they could be bought in a store at a democratic price. The brand has become very recognizable. In the works of Chekhov alone, the expression “Buret clock” occurs more than 20 times. To maintain recognition at the same level, Pavel Bure and his descendants invested a lot of effort in participating in exhibitions, where their products won medals many times. By the beginning of the XX century, the company occupied 20% of the Russian watch market.
With the revolution, business did not cease to exist. He was saved by the fact that the production was in Switzerland. The Buret Company still exists.published
Author Natalia Kienya
P.S. And remember, just by changing our consumption, we change the world together! © Join us on Facebook , VKontakte, Odnoklassniki
Source: secretmag.ru/articles/2015/10/29/drevnie-predprinimateli/
It has always been difficult to do business in Russia, but success stories have happened. Sometimes former serfs turned into magnates due to their tenacity and entrepreneurial vein.
Today we tell the story of five entrepreneurs of the Russian Empire who managed to build a large business.
Alexander ChichkinThe merchant of the first guild Alexander Chichkin changed the dairy market of his time. Before he opened a store "Milk" on Bolshaya Dmitrovka, the product was sold exclusively on the streets and markets. In a few years he managed to build a network. In 1914, he had 91 shops, two dairy plants and a cottage cheese and sour cream branch, 40 oil harvesting stations. The plant processed 100-150 tons of milk per day. The firm "A.V. Chichkin" employed 3000 people.
The entrepreneur paid a lot of attention to marketing: all shops were lined with snow-white tiles, the clerks were dressed in snow-white uniforms, there were unprecedented cash registers in the hall, which guaranteed an honest attitude to customers. Every evening, fresh milk in canons was solemnly brought to shops, and yesterday’s product was publicly poured into the sewers on the street in the morning.
By 1917, the fixed capital of the enterprise was more than 10 million rubles. After the revolution, Chichikov’s entire business was nationalized. He could not avoid exile: he had to spend two years in Northern Kazakhstan, until Molotov and Mikoyan rescued him from there. Then Chichkin became an ordinary Soviet pensioner, but still participated in the development of plans and projects for the development of the dairy industry in the USSR.
Stepan AbrikosovThe ancestor of the family Stepan Abrikosov was a serf, his family supplied sweets to the bar table - pastille and jam from apricots (hence the name). In 1804, the 64-year-old Stepan was free and soon opened an artel family production in Moscow. Sweets were bought here for parties and weddings, soon they managed to open a fruit and pastry shop. The fame of the Apricots grew.
In 1820, after Stepan's death, production passed to his sons Ivan and Vasily. But the pace set by the father, they could not maintain. After 20 years, they lost production due to debts. It seemed that the well-known family business ceased to exist, but by that time Stepan’s grandson, Alexei, had grown up. He was a talented young man, especially interested in accounting. He decided to revive the family business and organized home production: the Abrikosovs cooked jam again, made candy and baked gingerbread. To reduce the cost of production, he began to buy fruit in the Crimea, and later was the first to establish year-round deliveries of fruit to Moscow. His goal was to make the production really big. As a result, 30 years later, by 1872, Alexei had 40 confectionery workshops, which employed 120 workers. A total of 512 tons of sweets were produced per year.
Alexey's sons continued the work. They created a partnership and built a factory. By the beginning of the XX century, the business of Abrikosov became one of the leaders of the confectionery market of the country. Its annual turnover was 2.5 million rubles.
After the revolution, families were nationalized. In 1922, the factory was named after the Bolshevik Peter Babayev, but for several years the name of the Abrikosovs remained on the labels to attract attention. Some family members managed to flee abroad, but others failed to escape arrest.
Peter SmirnovPeter Smirnov came from a family of serfs who brewed and sold wine on holidays. Having received his freedom, Peter’s father and uncle decided to make the wine business their main business. Peter since childhood worked in this field: first he became a clerk for his father, and then founded a small winery.
The case of Peter Smirnov developed rapidly: the number of cellars, factories, warehouses, shops increased, and brand recognition grew. The secret of success was the impeccable reputation of the entrepreneur and his good connections in the trade sphere. He worked with relatives who did not dare to let him down or cheat, and used only high-quality raw materials: key water, alcohol from bread grains (not beets), good fruits and berries.
The last Peter was looking for himself: he went to the regional farms, extracting unknown varieties. Smirnov’s company produced wine, liqueurs, tinctures, vodka and pourings – more than 400 items in total. The technical equipment of its plants was constantly updated, the company quickly became the largest in the world and received international recognition. Smirnov became a supplier of the imperial court and received the right to place the coat of arms of the Russian Empire on labels (now the quality of its products was guaranteed by the state). He also supplied alcohol to the court of the King of Sweden, opened branches in London, Paris and New York.
At the end of the XIX century, Smirnov’s income fell sharply: the state decided to take control of the alcohol market and introduced a “wine monopoly”. He was still a very rich man, his fortune was estimated at almost 9 million rubles, but difficulties in business undermined his health, and in 1898 he died. Peter’s son Vladimir fled the country after the revolution and created the Smirnoff brand. In Russia, the brand revived only after the collapse of the USSR.
Grigory EliseevGrigory Eliseev was born into a wealthy family. His great-grandfather also sold expensive foreign goods in Russia: wine, tropical fruits, oysters and truffles. For their delivery, the company had its own merchant fleet: four sailboats and a steamer. At the age of 32, he inherited a trading empire with a fixed capital of 3 million rubles. He established the “Trade Partnership of the Eliseev Brothers” and began to manage business at his own discretion. In the first year of operation, the turnover of the enterprise amounted to 64 million rubles.
Once Eliseev had a bold idea: to arrange an exhibition of vintage wines in Paris. It's hard to surprise the French with wine, but the young entrepreneur succeeded. He was even awarded the Legion of Honor. The furor strengthened Eliseev’s position in the market.
Two years later, the entrepreneur bought a house on Tverskaya and instructed the best specialists to turn it into a miracle of architecture. The work was completed by 1901, when the "Eliseyev's Shop and the Cellar of Russian and Foreign Wine" was opened. Here they sold gastronomic luxury: wines, fruits, sweets, colonial groceries, crystal. Everything was fresh, clean, of high quality. It was the first universal food store in the country.
In 1914, a tragedy occurred in the Eliseev family: Grigory’s wife committed suicide because of his falling in love with another. The sons refused the inheritance and broke off relations with their father, Eliseev married again, quickly and with scandal, and went to Paris. In 1918, his property was nationalized.
Pavel BurePavel Bure Jr. was the grandson of a German-born Russian businessman who founded a watchmaking firm. Initially, the Bure factory was located in St. Petersburg, but Pavel, having inherited the production, decided to buy the plant in Switzerland. He managed to make the business really big.
The most famous product of the Buret was the gift watches that the emperor gave to diplomats, officials and cultural figures. It is known that during the reign of Alexander III was awarded 3,477 gift hours in the amount of 277,472 rubles, the vast majority of them were from the company "Buret".
In addition, the company produced prize products for officers of the Russian army, as well as simple watches: they could be bought in a store at a democratic price. The brand has become very recognizable. In the works of Chekhov alone, the expression “Buret clock” occurs more than 20 times. To maintain recognition at the same level, Pavel Bure and his descendants invested a lot of effort in participating in exhibitions, where their products won medals many times. By the beginning of the XX century, the company occupied 20% of the Russian watch market.
With the revolution, business did not cease to exist. He was saved by the fact that the production was in Switzerland. The Buret Company still exists.published
Author Natalia Kienya
P.S. And remember, just by changing our consumption, we change the world together! © Join us on Facebook , VKontakte, Odnoklassniki
Source: secretmag.ru/articles/2015/10/29/drevnie-predprinimateli/
