Kniga

What Kniga does

Kniga (Kniga.com) is a privately held e-commerce and physical retailer specializing in Russian-language books and cultural media, founded in 1967 and headquartered at 461 Avenue P, Brooklyn, New York. The company operates a bilingual (Russian/English) online storefront at kniga.com with Windows-1251 Cyrillic encoding support and an SSL-seccheckout flow, alongside a single retail location in Brooklyn open Monday through Friday. Its catalog spans approximately 18 book categories — including fiction, children's literature, history and politics, educational and scientific texts, philosophy, philology, Jewish-world titles, gift editions, and computer/technology books — supplemented by Russian and Soviet cinema DVDs, audio CDs, MP3 music downloads, Russian-language audiobooks, magazines and periodicals (with 1-year, 6-month, and 3-month subscription terms), toys and educational supplies, TamIzdat titles from overseas Russian publishers, antiquarian/used books (Букинистическая литература), and calendars and postcards.

The business is run as an independent, founder-owned operation with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or parent-company backing, and no management team is named in the available source data. Revenue is generated almost entirely through one-time retail transactions: per-book prices range from approximately $14.95 to $73.95, with shipping priced separately (standard ground $6.00 plus $1.00 per item; expedited air options priced to $40–$70 plus per-item fees; international shipping at USPS rates plus a 5% handling fee). Promotional mechanics include 40% off orders over $99 and 50% off orders over $169, and New York state sales tax of 8.875% applies. The company ships domestically across the USA and internationally, with Canada explicitly supported.

Kniga serves three overlapping customer segments: the Russian-speaking diaspora in the USA (the primary audience), Russian language learners and students, and collectors of Soviet-era films and rare books. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through the e-commerce site and the Brooklyn storefront, with supporting marketing on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and an email newsletter. The company is an active, operating business with no patents, certifications, regulatory actions, acquisitions, partnerships, or funding events disclosed in the source material.

Name

Kniga

Legal name

Kniga.com

Website

https://kniga.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Kniga is a Brooklyn-based, family-owned e-commerce and retail store founded in 1967 that sells Russian-language books, Soviet cinema DVDs, audio CDs, audiobooks, and cultural products to the Russian-speaking diaspora in the USA and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Bookstore

NAICS

Book Retailers and News Dealers (45921), Used Merchandise Retailers (4595)

SIC

Retail-Catalog & Mail-Order Houses (5961)

akta.pro primary industry

Books, Media & Entertainment Resale (CRAFAGAF)

Keywords

• Russian-language books
• Russian media retail
• Soviet cinema DVDs
• Russian audiobooks
• Specialty bookstore

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Retail Book Sales: Direct retail sales of Russian-language books, including new releases, classics, used books, and rare editions. Revenue generated through per-transaction sales with prices ranging from approximately $14.95 to $73.95 per book.
2. DVD and Media Sales: Sales of Russian and Soviet cinema DVDs, Audio CDs, and MP3 downloads including Russian chanson, classical music, and audiobooks.
3. Toys and Souvenirs: Sales of educational materials, games, toys, and souvenirs catering to Russian-speaking families.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Kniga is an e-commerce retailer specializing in Russian-language books, media, and cultural products for the Russian-speaking diaspora in the United States. The company operates the bilingual online storefront kniga.com and a physical retail location in Brooklyn, NY, offering a comprehensive catalog spanning fiction, classics, children's literature, educational texts, Soviet-era cinema DVDs, Russian music CDs and MP3s, audiobooks, periodicals, toys, and souvenirs. Customers can shop in Russian or English with domestic and international shipping options.

Product overview

Kniga.com is an e-commerce platform specializing in Russian-language books and media products for the Russian-speaking diaspora in the USA. The company operates a multi-category catalog featuring Books as the core product, alongside complementary media products including DVD (Russian films and TV series), Audio CD, MP3 music downloads, Audio Books, Periodicals (magazine subscriptions), and Toys and Souvenirs. The bookstore also specializes in TamIzdat (overseas Russian publications), Used Books, and Calendars and Postcards. The platform supports both Russian and English interfaces and offers worldwide shipping.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Russian-Language Books

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Amazon: Global e-commerce giant with the largest English-language book catalog plus an expanding foreign-language catalog. Comparable because Amazon directly competes for the same buyer wallet in books and media, but at vastly broader scale and without Russian-language curation.
• ThriftBooks: Large US used-book retailer operating online and via partner storefronts. Comparable as a used-book seller serving broad US consumer demand for low-priced books; less curated on niche foreign-language inventory.
• Half Price Books: US chain buying and reselling used books, music, and movies across multiple regional storefronts. Comparable for its physical-store-plus-online used-media model against Kniga's Brooklyn store and online media categories.
• Alibris: Online marketplace aggregating new, used, and hard-to-find books from thousands of independent sellers globally. Comparable overlap with Kniga's niche catalog role, particularly for out-of-print and international-edition titles.
• eBay: Mass-market online marketplace where independent sellers list books, DVDs, CDs, and collectibles. Comparable as a competing channel for used books, Russian collectibles, and Soviet-era media sold by individual diaspora sellers.
• Barnes & Noble: Largest US bookstore chain with a hybrid physical and e-commerce model. Comparable in the same product category (books, periodicals, gifts) and channel mix (storefront + online), though without the Russian-language specialization.
• Book Depository: Online-only international book retailer (now part of Amazon) known for free worldwide shipping and broad foreign-language catalog exposure. Comparable in its e-commerce, international shipping, and multilingual inventory positioning.
• AbeBooks: Online marketplace focused on new, used, rare, and out-of-print books from independent sellers worldwide. Comparable because it overlaps Kniga's used/antiquarian Russian book segment at global marketplace scale, though AbeBooks is a multi-seller aggregator rather than a single-niche curator.
• Powell's Books: Iconic independent US bookstore (Portland-based) operating multi-location retail plus an online used-book marketplace. Comparable as a long-running independent bookseller with online reach and a strong used/rare book vertical.

Direct peers

• Labirint: One of the largest online Russian-language bookstore chains, based in Russia, with deep catalog across genres plus media and educational products. Comparable as a direct Russian-language book specialist running at greater scale across digital and physical channels.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/KnigaCom
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/knigacom
• Instagraminstagram.com/knigacom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kniga