The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Sale of stationery items picking up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 26, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Sale of stationery items picking up

Meera Srinivasan

"Binding a book with A4-size leaves could cost anything between Rs. 10 and Rs. 20"

DUTY BOUND: G. Manoharan, who runs a binding centre, spreads out school textbooks for the glue to dry, at his unit off Lloyds Road here on Tuesday. — Photo: K.V.Srinivasan

CHENNAI: With most city schools reopening in the first week of June, sale of stationery items in wholesale and retail stores is picking up.

The pile-up of brown paper sheets, bustling bookbinding centres and the squeak of a new eraser tested on scribble pads, have all come to be markers of a new academic season.

"We get over 200 school textbooks everyday. We allow customers to choose from the different ways of binding we do," says N. Palani, owner of the Easwari Lending Library, where binding work is also undertaken.

Binding timings

Binding a book with A4-size leaves could cost anything between Rs. 10 and Rs. 20, says G. Manoharan, who heads the binding centre. "Since we have to bind hundreds of books before the first week of June, we work from 8.30 a.m. to 11 p.m."

His family has been in the business for over three decades. His mother G. Parvathy watches them patiently as Mr. Manoharan and his six-member team get the glue made, cardboard cut and books neatly stuck.

"We also do light binding these days, so that books don't become too heavy for children," he added.

Goods in demand

Besides pens, pencils and erasers, goods of a seasonal nature - such as brown sheets and labels are also in demand. Wholesaler Khadar Bhai of J.R. Stores in Bunder Street, says "laminated brown sheets are now available in different sizes so that notebooks and books in different sizes can be covered without wasting paper."

Last-minute purchases

He expects sales to go up further during the last week of May, as families on a holiday would make purchases in the "last minute".

According to Ganpath Sharma of Bhagvathy Stationers, cricket heroes and cartoon characters remain all-time favourites among children looking for labels.

Home delivery

Like pizzas and water cans, notebooks and books are also being home delivered.

Uma Yogesh of Tinux, for example, obtains the list of books for students of L.K.G to Class Eight from her client, a leading city school.

She sources these books from publishers, gets her team to cover, label and sort them out grade-wise.

The set of books would then be delivered to students at their doorstep.

"The cost they incur over and above the cost of books will range between Rs.100 and Rs.200, depending on the number of books," says Ms. Uma Yogesh.

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