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Most bookworms dream of being surrounded by books, inhaling the scent of crisp parchment and exploring exciting new worlds through the eyes of master storytellers. It was the same kind of love which sparked off Hemu, during her college days, which saw her working part-time at bookshops in five-star hotels. But over time, she has gone a step further, taking on this passion to full-fledged retailing in 17 stores around India while still managing to keep the essence of ‘love for books’ alive in each of these stores.

Hemu recollects, “When we were growing up, there was no TV, no kinds of alternative entertainment. It used to be only books for us. I spent around eight years working as a freelancer in bookshops at places like Adyar Park, Sindoori and Fisherman’s Cove. Those were all small outlets but catered to the elitist crowd only. Back then, I knew the challenge would be to bring the prices down to retail level. There was also a huge potential market for general books. Not technical, textbook kind of stuff but just the reading-for-pleasure category. We opened our first landmark outlet in 1987 at Nungambakam, on a 5,500 square feet floor space with assurances from critics that we would close down in three months. That basement outlet remains the cult store to this day! Our strategy was that if you open a book store, the book lovers will find you whereever you are and that has done miracles for us.”

Change is inevitable. But taking every remote opportunity that comes your way requires a high degree of assertiveness. When the Internet era dawned, Hemu and Jai made the huge influx of information work for them. “The way people used to buy books changed. At landmark we introduced an e-shopping website for books. But keeping pace with customers on the shop floor is still the biggest challenge. Anticipating and placing orders well in advance, we release 160 to 200 new titles each day. But in the UK alone, around 2,000 books are launched every week. Even if we miss out on a day, we find that we’re a bit lost,” explains Hemu.

The expansion phase came in 1996 when music became yet another best selling category at Landmark. Hemu says that it came as a pleasant surprise to them when they found out that most book lovers are also music lovers. Home décor came into the picture in 2001. Says Jai, “We entered this market with the idea of providing every thing a women needs for her home. This capitalises on the family shopping concept. We also have something new every single day on our racks. In the books section, it’s the eclectic collection that contributes to 80% of sales and not just bulk merchandise. We have no banners boasting bestsellers because we simply want our collections to speak for themselves. What we do have at the shop though is a ‘new arrivals’ shelf and a ‘Landmark recommends’ corner.”

Landmark is also well known in the city for it’s interactive launches and intellectual quizzing galas. The store has a special ‘kids club’, where the kids themselves review books meant for children. Hemu and Jai have clearly found a way of twisting their hobbies into their livelihood. As Jai puts it, “If we really enjoy watching a movie, we order a thousand copies to our store immediately. So we are at work, even when we’re just relaxing and vice-versa.”

On future plans, Hemu and Jai turn towards us with mysterious smiles, “Well, we’ve got something fantastic planned for book lovers in May. It’s never been done before and although we’re not going to tell you what it is right now, we can promise you that it’ll be a real treat!” No further details have been disclosed by the couple on this matter! But a message to Chennai’s bookworms: Get excited!

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