16 May 2024 is an extraordinary day in the capital’s trade history. On that day, the longest operating Vilnius shopping centre CUP celebrated its honourable 50th anniversary. And this is a great opportunity to remember the most interesting episodes and history of the past. Let’s remember how the right bank of the Neris River, little touched by urbanization, became the new centre of the city of Vilnius and the capital’s business district, with the White Bridge leading the way to the heart of almost every Vilnius resident.
Vilnius Central Department Store (now CUP shopping centre) opened its doors in 1974 and ushered in a new era of modern commerce. However, it was not the first large shopping centre in Vilnius. Before the opening of the CUP shopping centre, the title of the capital’s main department store belonged to the hundred-year-old building on the other side of the river, next to V. Kudirka Square, at Gedinimas ave. 18. It currently houses the shop “Maxima”, a pharmacy, and the older generation knows this five-story building best as the former “Children’s World”.
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Photo: 1975. Lithuanian Literature and Art Archive
