Getting Rich in the Heart of Russia

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Prices are going up in Kaluga too, but Svetlana Nikolskaya, 36, has learned to be flexible to make a sale. Nikolskaya, a former accountant and vegetable saleswoman, started selling wedding dresses from her home three years ago, after the birth of her son. It took her three months to sell the first one. Today she has a cramped boutique on Lenin Street next to a hat shop. In the wedding season, she sells as many as 20 dresses a month at prices of $100 to $400 apiece. Is she confident about the future? What does she think of Putin? She squirms uncomfortably, claiming not to know anything about politics. How about business? She flashes a broad smile. "Yes," she says, "I believe in the future of that." Today's Russia depends on a few million more catching that optimism.