2. St-Petersburg Bookstore is one of the only Russian bookstores in New York

Saint-Petersburg bookstore in Brighton Beach

St-Petersburg Bookstore is often considered one of the world’s largest Russian booksellers outside of Russia, with a collection of over 10,000 English and Russian-language books. These include everything from cookbooks to religious texts to philosophy and history volumes. The collection includes Russian classics by Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Lermontov, Leo Tolstoy, and dozens of others. In addition to language study books, the bookstore also carries calendars and posters, including some reproductions of Soviet-era signs.

Beyond just books, the store carries all sorts of gifts, including imperial eggs, lacquer miniatures, dolls from Russian folklore, jewelry boxes, decorative glassware, and a specific collection of Ukrainian products. Clothing includes shawls and Russian hats, Russian jewelry, shirts with Russian-language designs, and dresses. The store also carries a large selection of porcelain goods, as well as dozens of matryoshka nesting dolls. The store is usually packed with tons of items, which may take over an hour to look through, but St-Petersburg also has a full website in both Russian and English to order goods.