Landmark, Pune @ M.G Road, Besides Dorabjees, is one book/movies/gift item store that any book or movie freak SHOULD NOT MISS! The collection of books and movies is any day far greater than any Crossword.(In fact I could find works by authors, who are generally not available at any bookstore in Pune, except Manney’s maybe.e.g Anne Rice, Robert Rankin, Graham Masterton etc.).
They have quite a few computerised counters that help you find you any book/movie that you may be searching for. These counters are continually manned(As opposed to Crossword.where many a times they are empty and we have to wait till someone comes back) and the staff is courteous enough to not just point you to the correct rack, but they actually go and find it for you. If any book is not in stock, you can order for it and Landmark would contact uyou when they have procured it.
The ambience is a proper balance of cosiness and attractiveness. You have those pleasant, cosy corners, where you can sit on a stool, glancing at a few books. They even have a comfortable sofa in the books section.
It is a 3 storied shop, with the ground floor catering to Moviesand Music(CDs and DVDs) as well as PC and Playstation games and gift items and mp3player accessories. The first floor keeps books meant for a mature audience including Fiction, Non Fiction, Educational etc). It is a dream come true, if you have the obsession of making book collections. The second floor caters to children’s books and children’s items.
You have app 6-7 billing counters and a very helpful help-desk at the ground floor.
The membership is really rewarding and you get 1 point for every Rs. 50 purchase for silver membership and for every Rs. 25 for a gold membership. The redeeming is at 1 rupee per point as opposed to Rs. 0.70 per point at crossword. You also get an add-on card free for every mebership.
On the downside, the price is comparatively steeper and there is only one outlet in Pune.( I wouldn’t mind paying a bit more for a book that I need to complete an author’s collection)