Eric Shogren (born January 16, 1966) is a Russian-American businessman, the founder of New York Pizza and Kuzina chains.

Eric Shogren
Born (1966-01-16) 16 January 1966 (age 58)
Known forfounder of New York Pizza and Kuzina

Early life and career

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His grandfather, an immigrant from Odessa, created a fruit market in the center of Minneapolis, and Shogren sold fruit with him from early childhood.[1]

He was educated at the Blake School in Minneapolis.[2]

In 1992, Eric Shogren arrived in Novosibirsk to his brother Brad, who studied here in one of the educational institutions of this city.[3]

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 to USA, but this business failed.[4]

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.[5]

New York Pizza

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New York Pizza near the City Trade House

After the closure of the Novosibirsk supermarket, Eric Shogren returned to USA, 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.[6][7]

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.[8][9]

Klassika Restaurant

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In 2000, Eric Shogren and a banker Igor Kim 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.[10][11][12]

Siberian Farmer

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In 2004, Shogren created the Siberian Farmer project. In 2005, his new company leased an area of 21 hectares in the Kochenyovsky District (Novosibirsk Oblast). He also planned to rent 900 hectares for 49 years for forage crops breeding. But this project failed.[13][14][15]

Financial difficulties and criminal prosecution

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In 2008, Novosibirsk workers of NYP held rallies to protest against delay wage.[16] 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.[17][18]

In April 2009, Shogren and the company's top manager Evgenia Golovkova were detained, but they were released on bail after 48 hours.[19]

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.[20][21]

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, promising to return her money.[22][23]

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" and expressed that the businessmen did not admit their guilt.[24]

Business after criminal prosecution

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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 Minneapolis. In 2017, the building of the former Baker's Wife was occupied by Kuzina.[25][26][27]

References

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  1. ^ «Кузина» с характером: как заработать на российской выпечке в США. РБК.
  2. ^ Кто такой Эрик Шогрен? Комсомольская правда.
  3. ^ Ласковые объятия должника. Эксперт.
  4. ^ Сибирская New York Pizza. Ведомости.
  5. ^ За границу со своим «Наполеоном». РБК.
  6. ^ Эксперт. Новосибирская сеть New York Pizza открыла первый ресторан в Москве.
  7. ^ Эрик Шогрен хочет открывать по одному ресторану New York Pizza/Kuzina в неделю. Континент Сибирь.
  8. ^ "Без блюза нет любви к музыке. Континент Сибирь". Archived from the original on 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  9. ^ Эрик Шогрен планирует открывать по ресторану New York Pizza и «Кузина» в неделю. Деловой квартал.
  10. ^ «Онегин» не стал «Классикой».
  11. ^ «Классика» развода. Континент Сибирь
  12. ^ «Я уже никогда не буду „вторым“ в этом бизнесе». Эксперт.
  13. ^ Эрик Шогрен стал сибирским фермером. Коммерсантъ.
  14. ^ Ветер на пастбище: судьба новосибирской мегафермы ресторатора Эрика Шогрена. Тайга.инфо.
  15. ^ Владелец NYP обратился за кредитом на строительство фермы. НГС.Новости.
  16. ^ Бизнесмена, создавшего одну из первых в Сибири фастфуд-сетей, требуют признать банкротом. ТАСС.
  17. ^ Новосибирский кризис с американским акцентом. Тайга.инфо.
  18. ^ Ласковые объятия должника. Эксперт
  19. ^ Владелец «Нью-Йорк Пиццы» не чувствует себя виноватым. Сибкрай.ru.
  20. ^ Дележ пиццы. НГС.Бизнес.
  21. ^ New York Pizza разбирают кусками. Коммерсантъ.
  22. ^ New York Pizza выслушала обвинения. Коммерсантъ.
  23. ^ Прокуратура предложила освободить владельца New York Pizza от наказания. НГС.НОВОСТИ.
  24. ^ New York Pizza остыла в суде. Коммерсантъ.
  25. ^ New bakery lands in St. Paul’s Merriam Park. St. Paul Pioneer Press.
  26. ^ Булочки рванули на Запад: новосибирская сеть кондитерских открылась в США. НГС.НОВОСТИ.
  27. ^ Новосибирская сеть кондитерских вышла в США. Деловой квартал.
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