In Paris, the Marais district has seen better days … While in Moscow things are starting to boom
16/01/2006
Submitted by
Nikolay Alekseev, Human Rights LGBT Project GayRussia.ru
A Gay Tale of Two Cities
In Paris, the Marais district has seen better days … While in Moscow things are starting to boom
In France, gay business in general shows a decline of some 20 to 30 percent. But travel east to Moscow and things are different.
Last November saw the opening of a gay shop. Then came a new café Zasada, not to mention Café Elf moving to a new location. And in the coming weeks a new sauna is scheduled to open near Lubianka.
The boom in new gay businesses is not just confined to Moscow with its saunas, travel agencies, clubs and cafés. In St. Petersburg a new dance club Gay Central has just opened
It is as though the dynamism of Paris in the Nineties has moved to Moscow. Remember the Maris area of Paris during the last decade? And shop of café only had to put a Rainbow flag by the entrance to attract the ‘gay customer’. Business boomed in what marketing experts call the DINK factor – “double income, no kids”.
Indeed, Parisian gays needed to be able to meet together where they could feel safe and anonymous. But things change.
The internet came – and it developed quickly. Young gays had a new alternative to discover their sexuality. So forget the bars, the clubs, the cruising grounds. Hello to the virtual chat rooms and instant messengers!
Gays no longer needed a building flying a Rainbow flag to find a safe haven – or even safe heaven.
The gay shopper stopped buying “everything gay” only in “gay places”. For instance, in Paris, several department stores have created spaces for men only where you can meet straight, gay, and metrosexual customers.
After being finally accepted by French society, gays do not need to fight for their different sexual orientation to be accepted. They can now start to take care about the rest of their identity.
All the brands that are targeting gay customers (remember the DINK) are not scared anymore to advertise in the gay media, sometimes using specific advertisements. Banks, insurance, alcohol, fashion… there are no exceptions.
Integration and visibility of gays is not only in the medias but also in shopping.
What is happening for example in Paris – a market that reached maturity long ago- shows a complete change of tendency in the way gays are spending money on leisure. The positive evolution of mentalities (proved by the reduction of homophobia), the passing of partnership laws and new laws against homophobia made gays emancipate themselves and go out to the “straight” places which now are becoming gay friendly.
It leads to an increase visibility of gays in the streets to an extend that “being gay became fashionable”. Now, you often find gay partie in straight clubs! The time when homosexuality was rated by the World Health Organization a “psychiatric disease” seems far, far away.
In Russia, gay community remains at an early stage. Homosexuality was decriminalized 10 years after France. Here there is no partnership, and homophobia though constantly decreasing, his still present. Economic growth, as well as time, are two key factors that will move us in the right direction.
Having said that, gay business is prospering in Russia. Does that mean that it has no limit?
Apart from the Moscow and St Petersburg, it is hard to open any pure gay business. Homophobia is still more rampant than in the “two capitals” where the economic prosperity is mostly concentrated.
Income of people is lower in the regions, and that includes the income of gays… Also, the market for a purely gay business is smaller and this is another reason that it would make any investment hazardous.
Lower customer base and lower wealth are two negative points for the prosperity of gay business. And, last but not least, the internet is also a severe competitor as it is an easy place to get acquainted anonymously with guys and thus a very cheap competitor.
Moscow is, however, different. The city, with its 12 million inhabitants offers an enormous market. With several saunas, clubs, and bars, the market is growing, but at the same time there is no queue behind the door which shows that the market is not that far from saturation.
In fact, price remains an issue for the young crowd that represents the biggest part of the customers.
At the same time, does everything “gay” make money in Moscow? Recent attempt to open a first gay shop in Moscow shows that it is untrue.
Not only administrative pressures explain the lack of success of this new shop, but also the business offer. Gay shops are usually popular with sex toys and porn DVDs and tapes … an assortment that obviously would hardly be available in front of the Moscow douma.
From Old Campton Street in London, to Rue des Archives in Paris, no gay shops abroad would be running profitably selling only books and trunks, items that can be bought cheaper on the internet or in other department stores. It is the same in Moscow.
Surprisingly, what has not been tested in Moscow yet, and what is still prospering in France and Europe is “specific” segment such as SM, bears, naked parties. Bars where you leave your clothes at the entrance and walk only with your shoes, SM places for amateurs, and other hard sex activities, have not been opened yet even if in some places it is possible not only to drink but also to visit darkrooms. Also, here, there is no strip club like in Vilnius or Prague, but how long would these places would be tolerated by the police ?
But it is not possible to conclude without mentioning that not everything has always been “pink” in the Russian gay business. During the 90’s, police often visited clubs in the middle of the night to disturb parties. True, things have now changed. In Russia, the future is promising. France, a country where gay business is facing challenging times, has around 1,500 gay commercial businesses. How many do we have in Russia with twice the population? 50?
www.gayrussia.ru
In Paris, the Marais district has seen better days … While in Moscow things are starting to boom
In France, gay business in general shows a decline of some 20 to 30 percent. But travel east to Moscow and things are different.
Last November saw the opening of a gay shop. Then came a new café Zasada, not to mention Café Elf moving to a new location. And in the coming weeks a new sauna is scheduled to open near Lubianka.
The boom in new gay businesses is not just confined to Moscow with its saunas, travel agencies, clubs and cafés. In St. Petersburg a new dance club Gay Central has just opened
It is as though the dynamism of Paris in the Nineties has moved to Moscow. Remember the Maris area of Paris during the last decade? And shop of café only had to put a Rainbow flag by the entrance to attract the ‘gay customer’. Business boomed in what marketing experts call the DINK factor – “double income, no kids”.
Indeed, Parisian gays needed to be able to meet together where they could feel safe and anonymous. But things change.
The internet came – and it developed quickly. Young gays had a new alternative to discover their sexuality. So forget the bars, the clubs, the cruising grounds. Hello to the virtual chat rooms and instant messengers!
Gays no longer needed a building flying a Rainbow flag to find a safe haven – or even safe heaven.
The gay shopper stopped buying “everything gay” only in “gay places”. For instance, in Paris, several department stores have created spaces for men only where you can meet straight, gay, and metrosexual customers.
After being finally accepted by French society, gays do not need to fight for their different sexual orientation to be accepted. They can now start to take care about the rest of their identity.
All the brands that are targeting gay customers (remember the DINK) are not scared anymore to advertise in the gay media, sometimes using specific advertisements. Banks, insurance, alcohol, fashion… there are no exceptions.
Integration and visibility of gays is not only in the medias but also in shopping.
What is happening for example in Paris – a market that reached maturity long ago- shows a complete change of tendency in the way gays are spending money on leisure. The positive evolution of mentalities (proved by the reduction of homophobia), the passing of partnership laws and new laws against homophobia made gays emancipate themselves and go out to the “straight” places which now are becoming gay friendly.
It leads to an increase visibility of gays in the streets to an extend that “being gay became fashionable”. Now, you often find gay partie in straight clubs! The time when homosexuality was rated by the World Health Organization a “psychiatric disease” seems far, far away.
In Russia, gay community remains at an early stage. Homosexuality was decriminalized 10 years after France. Here there is no partnership, and homophobia though constantly decreasing, his still present. Economic growth, as well as time, are two key factors that will move us in the right direction.
Having said that, gay business is prospering in Russia. Does that mean that it has no limit?
Apart from the Moscow and St Petersburg, it is hard to open any pure gay business. Homophobia is still more rampant than in the “two capitals” where the economic prosperity is mostly concentrated.
Income of people is lower in the regions, and that includes the income of gays… Also, the market for a purely gay business is smaller and this is another reason that it would make any investment hazardous.
Lower customer base and lower wealth are two negative points for the prosperity of gay business. And, last but not least, the internet is also a severe competitor as it is an easy place to get acquainted anonymously with guys and thus a very cheap competitor.
Moscow is, however, different. The city, with its 12 million inhabitants offers an enormous market. With several saunas, clubs, and bars, the market is growing, but at the same time there is no queue behind the door which shows that the market is not that far from saturation.
In fact, price remains an issue for the young crowd that represents the biggest part of the customers.
At the same time, does everything “gay” make money in Moscow? Recent attempt to open a first gay shop in Moscow shows that it is untrue.
Not only administrative pressures explain the lack of success of this new shop, but also the business offer. Gay shops are usually popular with sex toys and porn DVDs and tapes … an assortment that obviously would hardly be available in front of the Moscow douma.
From Old Campton Street in London, to Rue des Archives in Paris, no gay shops abroad would be running profitably selling only books and trunks, items that can be bought cheaper on the internet or in other department stores. It is the same in Moscow.
Surprisingly, what has not been tested in Moscow yet, and what is still prospering in France and Europe is “specific” segment such as SM, bears, naked parties. Bars where you leave your clothes at the entrance and walk only with your shoes, SM places for amateurs, and other hard sex activities, have not been opened yet even if in some places it is possible not only to drink but also to visit darkrooms. Also, here, there is no strip club like in Vilnius or Prague, but how long would these places would be tolerated by the police ?
But it is not possible to conclude without mentioning that not everything has always been “pink” in the Russian gay business. During the 90’s, police often visited clubs in the middle of the night to disturb parties. True, things have now changed. In Russia, the future is promising. France, a country where gay business is facing challenging times, has around 1,500 gay commercial businesses. How many do we have in Russia with twice the population? 50?
www.gayrussia.ru
