Location shift adds to book shops’ woes

Madurai: The district administration is enthusiastically preparing for the annual book fair in September to promote reading, but the state of book shops that were functioning for decades inside Pudhu Mandapam and were forced to shift recently is anything but encouraging. Book sales have taken a hit and shops are struggling to stay afloat. Digitisation and books being sold through e-commerce websites are also increasingly making people turn away from traditional book shops.
Though around 30-40 book shops were functioning in Pudhu Mandapam earlier, only six are open now at Kunnathur Chathiram nearby where they were shifted to.“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on book sales in general as schools and colleges turned to e-learning material and PDFs. The shift to Kunnathur Chathiram has also affected us since we are forced to shell out thousands of rupees more for rent and storage amid dull sales. Only regular retail customers and delivery orders are helping keep us afloat,” said C Madhan, owner of a book shop that was in Pudhu Mandapam for more than three generations. His shop, which occupied about 300 sq ft in Pudhu Mandapam, is forced to manage with only about 50 sq ft in Kunnathur Chathiram.
While book shops occupied a particular section of Pudhu Mandapam and were easily identifiable for shoppers, at Kunnathur Chathiram the shops are located in an irregular manner, most of them occupying the first and second floors. Shopkeepers said that only a few customers bother to climb the stairs to look at shops. Poor ventilation is also getting them a bad name among customers. “Many book shop owners don’t want to set up their shops again after moving out of Pudhu Mandapam fearing poor sales. At this rate, many book shop businesses may close down. There is no support for us,” said a trader who did not want to be named.
Another book shop owner, R Vijayakumar, pointed out that that the need for buying books has come down. “There used to be huge crowds outside Pudhu Mandapam book shops in the week before and after schools and colleges reopen, but this year we didn’t see any such thing though the institutions are open,” he said. K Swaminathan, a father of two, said he now looks at prices before buying books as the cost of living has gone up. “I used to go only to Pudhu Mandapam to buy books for my children since we could get all the books at a single place. Now we buy only books we need the most, which are available even in other shops and also online, for cheaper rates,” he added.