DLT (department store)

DLT (Russian:ДЛТ: Дом ленинградской торговли — Dom Leningradskoy Torgovli, "Leningrad Trade House") is a department store in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which reopened in 2012, after a major renovation, as a branch of the TsUM chain.

[1] The land upon which DLT stands was originally developed in the 18th century and belonged to Artemy Volynsky, a major statesman Peter the Great's era.

An architectural competition was held, presided over by famed Austrian architect Otto Wagner, and the German firm Wayss & Freytag was selected to lead the construction.

The first phase of the store opened in 1908 as the Dom Gvardeyskava ekonomicheskava obshchestva (Дом Гвардейскаго экономическаго общества), i.e. the "House of the (Garrison) Guard Economic Society", but acquired the nickname Gvardeyskaya Ekonomka (Гвардейская экономка), or "Guards' Discount Shop" due to the discounted prices.

[1] In 2005 the state auctioned off rights to the building to the Mercury company, the leader of the Russian retail market for the sale of luxury goods.