The Hindu Business Line : Bookstore boom

The IT hub is waking up to book reading like never before. The big names in the industry are busy opening stores in Bangalore, the latest being Crossword and Landmark. Here's a cover-to-cover account.

The Landmark store in Bangalore

I can't do this," snaps Sir V.S. Naipaul, irritated by a battery of photographers whose flashbulbs go off in his face. "I'm not a record, you know. Good writing requires attention... "

Lady Nadira Naipaul pats the Nobel literary laureate's arm. Tarun Tejpal, the crusading journalist who invited Sir Vidia for the first Tehelka Lecture on February 28 at Crossword, persuades the camera crew to disperse. Naipaul opens India: A Wounded Civilization and begins to read about Gandhi.

The standing-room-only audience of stargazers lap up the big-time event. Incredibly, it's on at Bangalore, not at Mumbai, New Delhi or Kolkata. Will Bangalore mindsets be transformed with the opening of the Crossword and Landmark stores on February 13, 2004? They indicate a bookstore boom in the IT hub, which now hosts every big brand Indian chain — including Strand, Oxford, Higginbothams and Sankars.

Yet, as a wag noted, not a single major literary figure attended the 18,000-sq-ft Crossword `do.' U.R. Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad and Shashi Deshpande, who often grace book events at Strand and Oxford, were notable by their absence. A signal from the city that lacks a noteworthy book fair?

On March 2, Landmark launched Sandipan Deb's inside story on "The IITians," with Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani sharing takes on his halcyon days at India's premier educational institution.

What does the new scenario portend for the browser's favourite haunts — the floor-to-ceiling stacked 33-year-old Premier, manned by bibliophile T.S. Shanbhag, or the old-world Select bookshop, a paradise for second-hand book aficionados? Is the boom a tribute to buying power rather than a book-centric culture? Should the city welcome sofas and gizmos, linen and chocolate vying for floor space with books?

Brands consultant Harish Bijoor observes, "Retailing is a $180-billion business in India today, with only two per cent in the hands of the organised mass format retailer, while 98 per cent remains with small business. The books business is a micro sub-set of this number."

The numbers add up against the backdrop of the Mumbai-based, seven-city, 17-store Crossword, with a turnover of about Rs 40 crore in the current financial year. Its rival, Chennai-based Landmark, is looking at a projected figure of Rs 75 crore in 2004-05 across its hometown mega-stores, Kolkata and Bangalore. Premier, by contrast, does about Rs 1 crore of business annually.

What is the expanded experience selling us? Hemu Ramaiah, who has invested over Rs 25 crore in her 1987-launched Landmark chain, explains in a telecon from Chennai, "After working at a hotel bookstore, I felt suffocated by its size. Books need to be sold differently, in a family store for the mind that also provides greeting cards or toys. It's like a club you might want to visit twice or thrice a week." After a decade-long location search, Landmark opted for 45,000 sq ft at The Forum mall near Koramangala, melding a pseudo-Raj ambience for the book space with a brash, techno-flavour for the other options.

"Like the US, an Indian mall culture is happening here," Hemu emphasises. "It's a question of class for the mass. After all, even a middle-class Indian today would opt for a Zen instead of a Maruti 800."

How do these mega-stores view potential customers, including the new BPO brigade with credit card power? R. Sriram, the book-loving, 1992-launched Crossword enterprise facilitator — promoted by Shoppers' Stop Ltd and ICICI Venture — responds over e-mail, "We see opportunities for multiple chain stores in India's top seven cities, with Bangalore among the top five. It's a fast-growing city with highly educated people with spending power."

The Premier store.

Shanbag reflects, "It's difficult to get returns in the book business. The other stores are diversifying to sell more."

How do local booklovers gauge the phenomenon? Popular Swedish author Zac O'Yeah (whose titles include Our Man in Bollywood), now a Bangalorean by choice, notes, "I assume whatever boosts book sales, such as glossy packaging and author visits, will benefit the industry... I personally prefer the musty basements that were our typical bookshops, where I feel at home. I felt traumatised when I suddenly stood face to face with Sir Naipaul, who was signing books. I prefer to have my Naipaul within covers, pocket-size rather than life-size."

Sudeshna Shome Ghosh, Penguin India's local Associate Editor, reacts as a publishing professional, "I feel the larger number of stores we have, the better. Apart from the obvious boost to our various titles, books are now accessible to a wider cross-section." Ashwati Franklin of the Jacaranda Press literary agency responds as an individual, "I would go to a bigger store to browse or buy things other than books, then go back to my usual haunts like Sankars. Or Gangarams or Strand for children's books."

Bijoor recalls the book evangelism that propelled Select, Premier, Strand, Higginbothams and even Sankars. "A simple question would elicit a complicated answer from the bookshop owner, who just loved to talk books," he says.

Writer-historian Ramachandra Guha, who has often evoked Premier and Select sensitively, stresses, "Ours is perceived as a happening city with disposable incomes. I hope the cosy, chatty bookstores will not vanish with the big chains, as in the film, You've got mail! Yet I can't see how Premier will survive a second generation when the young have never heard of it." He points out that snappy self-help books have cornered the market over the past 10-15 years.

Bijoor, while agreeing that Bangalore does not measure up as a book-buying city compared to Kolkata, perceives, "I think it's all about big bucks. Or `coffee-table book snobbery,' as I will call it! Good-looking books by good, solid names are emerging as a good thing to buy and display in your car or on your worktable. Folks in the marketplace use books to create an image all the time. Sad, but true!"

Sriram questions how smaller stores can service a population of over 50 lakh. "I have great admiration for Nalini Chettur of Chennai's Giggles or Premier's Shanbhag for their knowledge, passion and dedication. We're working towards offering such personalised service on a large scale," he adds.

What's in store for the Bangalore buyer? Propelled by the dream of India-based world-class bookstores and the belief that books make a vital difference, Sriram outlines Crossword's USP — including book rewards programmes, a dial-a-book service, a returns and exchange programme, besides community-linked events. Competitively, Landmark promises to bring its popular family quiz to town, besides a children's book club, retro music shows and perhaps crash courses in appreciating wine, western classical music or even Rabindra Sangeet.

Conclusively, Bijoor emphasises, "Book stores are too personal to change off the cuff. Strand's Vidya Virkar or Vivek Sankar are celebrities in their own right to us. Yes, once in a while I will go to a Kentucky Fried Chicken, but my staple eating out place will be my friendly, comfortable, neighbourhood Darshini (for South Indian fast food)!"

Touché! The potluck debate rages on, like the ongoing tussle over real Vs virtual books — with or without a Nobel laureate tossed in.

Pictures by G.R.N. Somashekar

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