With Crossword shutting down two of its outlets in Bangalore in the recent past and other brands scaling back or diversifying to music, toys and stationery, things are not looking so good for large scale book stores in the city. While some blame the advent of online book stores such as Flipkart and Amazon, others cite increasing overhead expenses. However, the smaller book stores in the city seem to be doing well even with the help of discounts and second-hand sales. City Express spoke to book store owners around town to find out what's happening.
Blossoms, one of the most loved book stores in the city, offers a 20 per cent discount on all books, while slashing prices further down for second hand books. Proprietor Mayi Gowda says the store has managed to hold on to its clientele amidst tough competition.
"You cannot sit in New Delhi and run outlets across the country. You have to interact with the customers, find out what kind of books they want and then manage to get it for them," he asserts.
"Also, it is very difficult for such stores to survive with the increasing rent and other expenses," he adds.
Blossoms has been suffering due to online book stores, Gowda admits. "Sites like Flipkart offer huge discounts on new releases and bestsellers, whereas our discount is standard. It has resulted in loss in those segments."
Prakash Gangaram, owner of Gangarams says the same applies to his store. "Travelling to a bookstore in the traffic is becoming cumbersome these days. When people are looking for a particular book, they find it easier to just order it online. But if one wants to browse through a selection of books, one has to head to a bookstore," he says.
"The big book stores anticipate profit per square foot of the store as they would with any other commodity. But that is not how the book business works. You could have a thousand books decked up, but the customer will ask for that one book that you don't have," he says.
Gangarams shifted base from MG Road to Church Street in March 2013, as the owners could not afford the hike in rent. The store has been witnessing a fall of 10 per cent in sales every year since 2010.
Krishna of Bookworm is not too threatened by the online competition. The bookstore that has three branches on MG Road and Brigade Road offers 20 per cent discount and 50 per cent store credit on all books. "We used to have a 10 per cent hike in profit every year. But since 2010, it has been static," he says.
About scaling down of big book stores, Krishna says, "Large scale stores suffer more due to the huge discounts offered by online stores, as they rely more on the sale of new releases and bestsellers. It results in a huge fall in margins."
One of the city's oldest book stores situated on MG Road comes across as fearless, yet admits to be working on a website. The store manager, on condition of anonymity, says the bookstore has been functioning in the same building for over 68 years and will continue to do so. "We own this building, so rent is never an issue for us. However, going online is something we have to do for survival," he adds.
Aruna C, store manager, Oxford Bookstore says the brand's LTL stores have been suffering a steady loss of 10-15 per cent every year, while the new stores have seen a slight rise in sales. "It is difficult to break even in the current situation due to skyrocketing rents and the discounts on books available online," he says.
Nitin Warikoo, marketing-head, Oxford Bookstore, adds, "I cannot speak for other big brands, but Oxford is in safe territory. We are even planning to open a new outlet in Raipur."
Landmark, which has expanded into a lifestyle store, attributes only 27 per cent of its total sales to books. A spokesperson from the company says that the management is rethinking its strategies to provide customers the kind of shopping experience that cannot be found online.
When contacted, the staff at Crossword in Forum Value Mall in Whitefield said the store was about to close down but refused to divulge more information. Sources say the brand is planning to shut down a few outlets and open new ones.