An experience by itself

When the dynamic Hemu Subramaniam opened the 5000-sq.ft. Landmark Book Store in Nungambakkam way back in 1987, it was possibly Chennai's biggest bookstore at that time. Now, she has created another Landmark (literally and figuratively) by opening the second store of 35,000 sq.ft., in Phase 2 of Spencer's Plaza, billed as India's largest book and music store.

The spanking new store is truly world class and offers nothing short of an international shopping experience. Stocked with products to interest every member of the family, the new Landmark, in addition to books, offers music, stationery, greeting cards and home accessories. It has a coffee shop to boot.

There are three levels - the ground floor houses the stationery section while the books and home sections have been accommodated in the first floor. The home section stocks everything from candles, mats, crockery, bathroom accessories, lamps, furniture, wrought iron products, flowers, vases, photoframes, Ganeshas and other bric a brac. In addition there is trendy jewellery, crystal, perfumes and leather products too keeping in mind that a sizeable percentage of visitors to the mall are tourists.

The Delhi-based Bandhini Home store offers bedspreads, cushion covers, fabric, curtains, wall hangings, runners, table linen and clothes.

The mezzanine section is exclusively devoted to children and has books, clothes, (mostly daily wear from Weekender kids and an in- house brand Landmark Kids) and toys. There is also a reading zone with colourful cushions and a play zone created like a lion's den with scenes from "The Lion King" in the background.

Jai Subramaniam, Hemu's husband and business partner, says a children's club with two events a week ``not competitive but creative'' has been lined up. ``The whole idea is to capture the child's imagination with our brand name. We are bullish about this section what with people spending a lot of money on children".

Hemu, who felt the need for a store with international appeal, chose to locate India's largest book store in Chennai as ``the city is ahead of its time, customers are brand loyal, are receptive to new concepts and not too price conscious. Here, brand, reputation, services, credibility do matter. I don't want to kill my concept for five percent margins."

Hemu wasn't looking for a mall to start with. "If you are talking `mall', you are talking of combined traffic for a multitude of brands, each one driving the other. Though malls have attracted a lot of media attention in recent times, they are not exciting because they are expensive, the stores are small and bulk of the goods sold are unbranded. In the end, they are not great shopping experiences. What a mall needs to survive and succeed is a good anchor tenant."

Fortunately for Hemu, she met Bala of Spencer's Plaza who understood the concept of an anchor tenant. ``We worked out a package, looked at the mutual advantages and the store happened. I believe in the mall model. Since Spencer Plaza is the largest mall and had the floor area we wanted, it was the obvious choice."

Will the inclusion of home products and garments detract from its identity as a book store? ``When we started in 1987, we did not get into music as we didn't have the space. I felt if we entered an area we needed to be total category killers, for which we need a certain amount of space". Jai Subramaniam adds, ``We are still strong on books and music. The idea is to give the customer variety at various price points."

It took Hemu six months to put the store up together. ``Building the mezzanine floor was a mind blowing experience because structural engineering is one thing we never understood -we needed to keep costs low and incorporate design at the same time," she says.

What about the current economic recession and its effect on the book trade. ``This is life style shopping. The reading habit is still alive. Customers get all the information on the Net and know everything before my press release arrives."

The new Landmark has been Hemu's dream come true. She has been visualising this for the past two years, says Jai. And for the Chennai shopper, the best has just got even better.

SUDHA UMASHANKER

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