KOCHI: Mention H&C Stores, and most Kochites would go on a nostalgic trip to their schooldays. Some of them, in fact, still recall the whiff of freshly printed books at the one-stop shop for students. Started in 1962, the first H&C store was the go-to place for students and their parents for textbooks, guides, project materials, pens, geometry boxes, etc.
The journey of the brand, however, began as ‘Himalaya to Cape Comorin Bookstall’ in Kunnamkulam in 1947. It was the dream of a schoolteacher named Ittikuru T V: a shop channelling quality reading material at an affordable price range for the common man.
H&C started off with newspapers and an eight-page booklet with in-depth information on select topics. General knowledge, math and riddle books were also sold at Re 1 each. “We began by selling the Indian Express. In fact, its founder Ramnath Goenka once visited one of our stores. My father and the legendary journalist shared a good relationship,” says Victor Thekkekara, managing partner, H&C.
“My father had worked as a stenographer in Lucknow for some time. After he moved to Kerala, he decided to start a bookstall. During those times, the Higginbothams chain opened stores at several railway stations. My father wanted H&C stores on all national highways instead. That’s how it all started.”
Gradually, the bookstore became popular among all sections of society, especially through hawkers who sold them on trains, at bus stations, festivals, etc. “It was a livelihood for many, and they are still recounted as contributors to the success of H&C,” says Victor.
In the mid-fifties, Ittikuru got a job as a school teacher, and his wife C C Kunjanie took over the bookstore’s management. “Back in those days, a woman running a store was a rare sight,” says Victor.
“My mother could initiate conversations with anyone, and the store became a comfort space for many people. When they’d come to have a word with her, in between some would read books, some buy them.
Soon she was addressed by many as ‘teacher’, probably due to her ability to advise and guide people.”
By the 1970s, H&C became a well-known brand, and also a distributor of government school textbooks in Kerala. Today, the brand is the leading supplier of textbooks and notebooks to a large number of schools in and outside Kerala. Overall, there are 30 H&C outlets in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In Kochi alone, there are eight stores.
Besides academic material, these outlets sell a wide range of literature – fiction and nonfiction – and office stationery as well. The manager of the first H&C store in Ernakulam, Sunil C U, beams with pride that the brand has been an integral part of Kerala’s academic progress.
“We have touched the lives of many students’ lives,” he says. “The staff often help students pick the right books. There have been instances where some students distributed sweets to our staff after securing high scores. Such gestures bring immense joy to us.”