The very first, grand and long street of Vladivostok was once called the American, then it became Svetlanskaya (after the name of one of the frigate-founders - "Svetlana"), and in 1924 it was called Lenin. On the eve of the holiday dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the creation of the Russian regular fleet in 1996, the street again became Svetlanskaya.
It is here that among the traffic jams and old mansions, tents with fast food and monuments to sailors and soldiers, the pulse of the city is felt. Walking around Svetlanskaya Street, city residents and tourists visit Vladivostok GUM (state supermarket). The oldest store in the Far East, opened in 1865, it was the first stone store in the city! It differed from similar stores very much, as it was technically equipped. There was steam heating in this supermarket, telephones, customers could climb the elevator, plus an autonomous electric lighting system. In the early twentieth century, the building was rebuilt, but massive staircases with exquisite forged banisters survived to this day. In 2009 a museum was opened in the store dedicated to its history.