Bookberry

Bookberry (Букбери) was a chain of bookstores based in Moscow, Russia, and with stores in that city and in Yekaterinburg.

History

The chain was launched by private investors in 2003 including Alexander Mamut (36%), Tim Waterstone,^[1] Roman Lola, Dmitry Kushaev and Maxim Scherbakov. Roman Lola was CEO until 2004 when Mamut bought out his shares, along with the shares of Kushaev and Scherbakov.^[2]

Most Bookberry stores were opened 24 hours a day.^[3]

In February 2008, a company controlled by Oleg Deripaska, Rainko, bought a controlling stake, buying out Lola, Kushaev and Scherbakov entirely. By late 2008, the chain comprised 13 stores (up from 10 in late 2005), located in large shopping malls and on a number of major streets. The CEO departed in January 2009, and by March 2009 five stores were closed, including the last-opened, on Tverskaya Street.

On Monday 2 March 2009, the company applied for bankruptcy protection.^[4] Its financial failure was precipitated by the bankruptcy of Deripaska.^[5] The Tverskaya store in Moscow closed in 2009.^[6]