Kyiv Sees Opening of the Largest Silpo Themed After the Universe of the Animated Film “Mavka. Forest Song” 20.11.2019

Have you ever been to a Polissian virgin forest? Enjoyed the tranquility of wilderness and discovered magical forest spirits? Fr om now on, you can do just that as the new Silpo store in Blockbuster Mall, the largest shopping mall in Ukraine, is an authentic piece of Mavka Universe located in the middle of a busy city. The main character of perhaps the most anticipated Ukrainian animated film turned a supermarket into an ancient forest inhabited by magical creatures.

The new largest themed Silpo styled after the universe of the animated film “Mavka. Forest Song” is the result of a creative collaboration between two major Ukrainian brands: Silpo supermarket chain and Animagrad studio (FILM.UA Group). The store's interior is filled with the authentic Ukrainian elements featured in the upcoming animated film that is still in production.

“Animagrad aims to create national animated characters who will become favorite characters for our audience. We want the younger generations to grow up in modern Ukrainian culture, images and traditions, so we are very proud that Mavka has already begun this journey and as a brand has won the hearts of many Ukrainians, including our business partners. "We are extremely pleased that Silpo, a large, progressive and dynamic company, shares our views and relies on Ukrainian heroes, seeing this as an advantage for development,” says project producer Iryna Kostiuk.

Mavka's universe will impress everyone. In addition to the charming Soul of the Forest, Silpo guests are greeted by her beloved Lukash, friends Zhabokyts Kvus, Vodyanyk and Lisovyk, mermaids Vodyanytsya, Polovytsia and Lisovytsia, and many other characters.

“Mavka's universe is beautiful, boundless, it has many meanings and messages to domestic and foreign audiences, that's why it has so many formats of embodiment – from the animated film to branding space. When we finally saw the finished store, we caught our breath from the scale and skilled implementation of the idea. We are happy that Mavka has such a real world residence, which I am sure will be gladly visited by families not only for shopping, but also for leisure and genuine pleasure,” says the creative producer of the animated film “Mavka. Forest Song” Anna Yeliseieva.

On one of the walls, be sure to spot one special character of the Mavka Universe – Rysen, who represents animals on the verge of extinction and draws attention to the problem of cutting down Ukrainian virgin forests.

“We immediately fell in love with the Universe of Mavka, and this store is our contribution to the support and promotion of Ukrainian cinematography. We spent a lot of time to make guests feel this special atmosphere. In addition to the incorporation of the main characters into the store’s design, you will find runes and patterns, strange plants and magic,” explains Silpo Marketing Director of Kateryna Ohuriaieva. For example, Vodianyk was placed in the fish restaurant “Tykhi Vody” (Eng. Silent Waters), Lisovyk is in the meat restaurant “Dyka Mistsyna” (Eng. Wilderness), while Vega Bar emphasizes the atmosphere of magical flora.

A special concept was developed for Silpo at Blockbuster Mall. This is not only the largest but also the most modern themed supermarket of the chain with an area of ​​5,766.2 square meters.

In the food court area, along with fish and meat restaurants, there is a pizzeria with a wood-burning oven for traditional Neapolitan pizza, classic Italian pasta, Oriental Chinese dishes from the jiao bar, a sushi area with takeaway dishes. “Exclusively for this Silpo, we have created a new area called Vega Bar, wh ere customers can buy fresh smoothies and juices, ready-to-eat fruits and salads," explains Kateryna Ohuriaieva.

The Lavka Tradytsii area, which sells foods made by Ukrainian craft producers, has an extended range of cheeses. Its section of cheese factory “Chizarnia” sells dairy products along with cheeses. The fish and prepared food areas have its own smokers, and the bakery has a tandoor and a baking shop. In the alcohol area, we placed a wine room with a special temperature for selected items, and in the wine bar you can enjoy a glass or bottle of wine from our shelves. On the second floor, the store will hold lectures, tastings and master classes of the Silpo’s Academy of Taste.

Silpo not only has the design in the style of the animated film “Mavka. Forest Song.” Here you can become the owner of real artifacts, play with characters and even try the taste of foods from the Mavka Universe. The original area, located at the entrance to the supermarket, will be a great space for photo shoots. In addition, using a special application with augmented reality MAVKA AR, you can see real miracles. All you have to do is point the camera at the magic rune and it will come to life on the screen.

Blockbuster Mall is located at the busiest intersection in Kyiv: 200,000 people travel one-way to Stepan Bandera Avenue every day and 150,000 to Naberezhno-Rybalska Street. “There are no other places in Ukraine with such intense traffic. 350,000 people will be able to visit the Blockbuster Mall every day just because it is conveniently located for them; it’s a place to shop in the supermarket and shops, eat out, and have a good time. We realized that the advantages of the location should be used to the maximum, so the project concept includes features that greatly exceeds the level of competitors. The launch of the largest designed supermarket of the Silpo chain in Kyiv is one of the natural steps on the way to the implementation of our plan,” says Vitalii Boyko, CEO and founder of NAI Ukraine, the company that created the mall’s concept.

Silpo is one of the largest chains of food supermarkets in Ukraine with a range of about 76,000 items of food and related products, as well as products of its own brands and its own imports. The company has a project to support and develop small Ukrainian producers called Lavka Tradytsii™, whose products can be purchased at Silpo and Le Silpo delicatessens. As of November 20, 2019, the retail chain has 249 supermarkets.

Five years ago, Silpo began to develop unique themed designs for its supermarkets, and in 2018 extended the experiment to the entire network. Now each new Silpo supermarket has an individual design, in addition, there is a program to update the design and concept of existing stores. The network has supermarkets in the following styles: Van Gogh, music, ancient printing house, yacht club or seaport, Asian culture, Wild West; there is a shop with inscriptions in Klingon (fictional language of the Star Trek series), etc. Today, Silpo is one of the few large food retailers in the world that creates an individual design for each store. In 2019, three Silpo design supermarkets entered Europe’s Finest Store 2019, the top 25 best innovative designs in European stores, according to European Supermarket Magazine.

“MAVKA. FOREST SONG” is the second full-length animated film created by the Ukrainian studio Animagrad (FILM.UA Group), which is currently in production. The film is based on a play Forest Song by Lesia Ukrainka, as well as Ukrainian myths and folk traditions. The film crew includes experts from leading ethnographic institutions: the Department of Folklore of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Ivan Honchar Museum, and the Museum of the History of Ukrainian Fashion. World-famous band DahaBrakha joined the film’s team to create the soundtrack. Experts from WWF Ukraine provide the film's creators with expert support in depicting nature, including Ukrainian virgin forests and rare animals from the Red Book.

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