The new branding adopted by Russia's Lego stores, abandoned by the company after Putin's invasion of Ukraine, have a new name: World of Cubes. The name reminds me of all the Minecraft clones that infest app stores. They should have called it "Eastern Block."
lthough a total of 81 LEGO Stores in Russia were closed, Reuters is reporting that IRG is now planning to reopen as many as 65 locations across 20 cities, replacing them with Mir Kubikov, or World of Cubes shops. "The new chain will appear in place of certified LEGO shops," IRG said in a statement. "LEGO will remain on the list of brands." The LEGO Group originally paused shipments of its products to Russia in March, 2022 and responded with a statement on Friday.
There's some confusion over whether it will be stocking official Lego products, but the basic Lego designs are long out of patent protection (if that even matters in Russia) so it'll have no problem sourcing compatible product.
What would be nice if there were some locally-themed replacement product lines. Sets for Beria's execution in the Lubyanka building's basement, etc.
See also: A visit to McDonalds Russia Replacement
