JOIN USIconic bookstores in Bengaluru go online
Many iconic bookstores in Bengaluru are going online, with footsteps dwindling during the pandemic.
Blossoms, Ankita Pustaka and Champaca are among the physical stores that now have a virtual presence.
“It has been 30 days since we started doing business online. We work out of a godown complying with lockdown restrictions,” says Mayi Gowda, proprietor of Blossoms, which has two stores on Church Street.
He believes frequent lockdowns are pushing physical bookstores towards e-business.
Nirica Srinivasan of Champaca Bookstore, Cunningham Road, says the second wave hit business harder than the first.
Following the lockdowns last year, many bookstores have realised the importance of establishing their online presence, she says.
“Last year we realised that we can’t just depend on the physical store for revenue. While we always had plans of launching an e-store, the pandemic definitely accelerated the process,” says Nirica.
Champaca launched its online store last year and has since been experimenting with innovative ways of selling books. It now offers curated subscription boxes. For Rs 999 a month, subscribers get one to three hand-picked titles plus stationery created by local artists, delivered at their doorstep.
“Obviously business hasn’t been the same. The last two months, we were confused about delivery as rules kept changing but we are getting back on track,” Nirica says.
She says it would have been impossible to pay rents and salaries if the e-store hadn’t kicked off last year. “Even if the turnover is low, it is helping to keep the show going,” she says.
Gandhi Bazaar’s well-known Ankita Pustaka launched its e-store in December last year.
“Online business had been going well but we had to temporarily stop operations due to lockdown restrictions as books were not considered an essential commodity. We’re back now,” says Prakash Kambathalli, proprietor. They re-opened their online business last week. Nagasri Book House in Jayanagar saw pre-pandemic volumes late last year. “Now we’re back to square one,” says Venkatesh K V, owner.
The store is located in a BBMP complex, and appeals for rental concessions have gone unheeded. Venkatesh is contemplating setting up an online store now. He agrees e-commerce is the future. “I should have established an online business by now but lack of resources and staff has held me back,” he says.
Bahuroopi Book Hub in Sanjay Nagar, launched in January, has had to temporarily close down. “We had no other option,” says Sreeja V N, co-founder.
The team at Bahuroopi has appealed to the government to make books an essential commodity so that lockdown delivery hurdles are removed.
“We believe this is the only way bookshops can survive during the pandemic,” she says.
Now online
Blossoms, Church St
Champaca, Cunningham Rd
(Nagasri, Jayanagar, is contemplating going
online)
For Kanada books
Sapna Book House, which has published hundreds of Kannada titles, is already online. Ankita Pustaka, Gandhi Bazaar, has reopened its online store.