In the late 1860s, Polikarp Gubkin arrived in the fertile lands of Kuban from Central Russia. He came from a peasant family but possessed intelligence and foresight.

At the Hay Market, he opened a barbershop with the sign "Trishka, Brishka and Zavishka." One literate man laughed at the sign and advised Polikarp to make it clearer. Gubkin then hired a well-known master, Yashka Krasnoglazov, who created a new inscription: "Strityo, Brityo and Zavityo," adding an image of a dandy with curled mustaches. The sign attracted attention, and the salon became popular.

Gubkin, barely able to read and count, married the educated Ekaterina Khovanskaya from a declining noble family. After the wedding, he left the barbershop and began trading grocery and iron goods, moving to his own shop on Novobazarnaya Square.

Business was successful. A few years later, he began constructing a two-story brick house. In the summer of 1886, an advertisement appeared in the newspaper offering furnished rooms in the Gubkins' courtyard. Carriage houses and barns were provided for guests with horses.

The rooms were in demand, and soon Gubkin moved his trade to the new building on Sobornaya Square. The Bogarsukovs had a competitor. The "Central" and "Grand Hotel" of the Gubkins were separated by a small space, which after long negotiations was acquired by Gubkin.

After his death, Ekaterina completed the "Grand Hotel," decorating it with rich stucco and a turret. The Bogarsukovs, impressed by the hotel's luxury, decided to surpass it. In 1909-1910, the renovated "Central" hotel became the most beautiful in Yekaterinodar.

Ekaterina Gubkina built a canning factory on the site of the former carriage houses. However, World War I and the Civil War disrupted their lives. In 1917, the "Grand Hotel" was requisitioned for the needs of the committee and later used as a prison.

After the arrival of the new authorities, Ekaterina lost everything and fled from the Bolsheviks, leaving behind only memories. But the former "Grand Hotel," now restored, continues to adorn the city. It now houses the halls of the history of Kuban at the Krasnodar Museum-Reserve named after E.D. Felitsyn.