Eric Shogren (born January 16, 1966) is a Russian-American businessman, the founder of

New York Pizza New York Pizza is a Dutch fast-food chain specialising in pizzas. The individual outlets are operated by franchisees. In 2021, New York Pizza was acquired by the Norwegian company Orkla and transferred to Consumer & Financial Investments togethe ...

and

Kuzina Kuzin or Kouzine (russian: Кузин) is a Russian masculine surname, its feminine counterpart is Kuzina or Kouzina. The surname is derived from the male given name Kuzma or Kosma, which in turn originates from the Greek ''κόσμος'' (''kosmos ...

chains.

Early life and career

Eric Shogren was born on 16 January 1966. His grandfather, an immigrant from

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, created a fruit market in the center of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, and Eric traded fruit with him from early childhood. There were boxes of bananas in his room; in the future, a banana will be present in almost all products of the Kuzina chain (cakes and donuts with banana cream, banana bread and muffins). He was educated at the Blake School in Minneapolis. In 1992, Eric Shogren arrived in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

to his brother Brad, who studied here in one of the educational institutions of this city. In Novosibirsk, he bought a hockey puck at a local store and was surprised by its cheapness. He decided to sell hockey pucks from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, but this business failed. His brother Brad introduced Eric Shogren to a Novosibirsk businessman, Eric created a business with this person, they started exporting cars from America to Russia. In 1993, he earned money and opened the first supermarket in Novosibirsk. The new store sold products of the SuperValu and enjoyed great popularity among the residents of the city. But It stopped working.За границу со своим «Наполеоном». РБК.
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New York Pizza

New York Pizza near the City Trade House After the closure of the Novosibirsk supermarket, Eric Shogren returned to

, where he met his future wife, Olga, she came from Novosibirsk to America to get an education. They got married and in 1995 moved to Novosibirsk, where in 1996 founded The New York Pizza company. Then the New York Pizza opened in other Russian cities. After the founding of New York Pizza, Eric Shogren continued to create other restaurants in Novosibirsk: New York Coffee, New York Diner and New York Times grill-bar, where rock-n-roll and blues musicians performed.

Klassika Restaurant

In 2000, Eric Shogren and a banker

Igor Kim Igor Vladimirovich Kim (russian: link=no, Игорь Владимирович Ким; born 12 January 1966) is an investor, banker, Honored economist of the Russian Federation, who has successfully completed more than 30 mergers and acquisitions ...

opened the Klassika Restaurant in Novosibirsk, the idea of its creation belonged to the Novosibirsk restaurateur Denis Ivanov (at that time, he was the director of the New York Pizza holding). Half of the restaurant belonged to Kim, the other half was owned by Shogren. In 2003, Eric Shogren sold his share of the restaurant to Igor Kim.

Siberian Farmer

In 2004, Shogren created the Siberian Farmer project. In 2005, his new company leased an area of 21 hectares in the

Kochenyovsky District Kochenyovsky District (russian: Коченёвский райо́н) is an administrative and municipalLaw #200-OZ district (raion), one of the thirty in Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the eastern central part of the oblast. The area ...

(

Novosibirsk Oblast Novosibirsk Oblast (russian: Новосиби́рская о́бласть, ''Novosibirskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southwestern Siberia. Its administrative and economic center is the city of Novosibirsk ...

). He also planned to rent 900 hectares for 49 years for forage crops breeding. But this project failed.

Financial difficulties and criminal prosecution

In 2008, Novosibirsk workers of NYP held rallies to protest against delay wage. In February 2009, the company employees also organized a picket in the city, Eric Shogren arrived at the picketers. He said that the company wants to return money to people and that debts are gradually being paid to many former employees. In April 2009, Shogren and the company's top manager Evgenia Golovkova were detained, but they were released on bail after 48 hours. In August 2009, Eric Shogren organized a press conference, he told reporters that bankruptcy trustee Vladimir Klopov attempted to raider the NYP pizzeria located in Akademgorodok on Morskoy Prospect. Shogren also expressed the opinion that because of the raider seizure, the company lost one NYP in Pervomaysky Square of Novosibirsk and one pizzeria in Barnaul. In 2010, a criminal case was opened against Eric Shogren and Evgenia Golovkova. They were accused of fraud. The prosecution stated that Shogren and Golovkova in 2006 persuaded their employee, Anna Sidevich, to issue a loan of one million rubles in the

Bank of Moscow The Bank of Moscow (russian: Банк Москвы) was a Russian bank that provided banking services to both corporate and retail customers until May 2016. Headquartered in Moscow, the bank had 267 outlets, including branch offices and cash desks ...

, promising to return her money. In 2014, the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Novosibirsk dismissed the criminal case against Eric Shogren and Evgenia Golovkova. The state prosecution asked to appoint Shogren and Golovkova five and a half years of probation, after which it immediately expressed a request for their release "due to the expiration of the statute of limitations". Businessmen do not admit their guilt.

Business after criminal prosecution

Despite the fact that many NYP establishments were closed, Eric Shogren kept his business. In 2015, Kuzina and New York Pizza chains was opened in Moscow. In 2016, Eric Shogren bought Baker's Wife Confectionery in

. In 2017, the building of the former Baker's Wife was occupied by Kuzina.Новосибирская сеть кондитерских вышла в США. Деловой квартал.
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References

External links

Siberian pizza chain shows way to Russia. Reuters.

Die Zeit. Pizza für Sibirien.

Тайна Эрика Шогрена. Сиб.фм

«В России всё меняется быстрее — это поразительно». НГС.НОВОСТИ.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shogren, Eric 1966 births Shogren Living people Russian businesspeople in the United States Businesspeople from Novosibirsk