Wednesday, August 31, 2005

The bookshop is going...

So I hear Trent has bought a majority stake in Landmark. What does this mean for the bookstore?

The first Landmark in Nungambakkam was, and still is a favourite haunt for me. Its a comfortable place to stand, browse, read, just walk around looking at all the new covers that are in etc etc. The new Landmark at Spencers somehow is just not a bookshop at all. The book section is quite small and all squashed together so that there is hardly any space at all to stand and check out anything.

The kids toys section, the furniture section, the hep cafe section, the assorted junk section, all these possibly occupy more space than the books. And if you stand in the aisle for just a fraction of a moment, make sure you have your lucky charm with you. Or else you will be prodded in the back by wandering elbows and shoved aside by sundry-teenager-hordes-with-nothing-else-to-do-on-a-sunday.

Now with Trent doing a takeover (practically, since their share is going to be aout 75%), and the bookstore getting fully 'corporatised' , maybe we can expect a chain of Landmarks, all outfitted alike, stocking every single thing on earth, including, did you say books?

3 comments:

The ramblings of a shoe fiend said...

i agree with you about the new landmark... i hate going there. the collection of books is quite average and i never feel like browsing when i'm there... terrible

Accidental Fame Junkie said...
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Accidental Fame Junkie said...

Talking about bookshops, did you know that Odyssey at Gandhi Nagar has been taken over by Deccan Chronicle. Imagine! DC and books! Or should I say DC and books? Unimaginable! It's an excellent example of an oxymoron!