The Oxford bookstore which has stores across India finally opened one in Chennai, so like any other avid book lover I decided to check out the store. I guess I wanted to see if it was any good and how it fared when compared with our No.1 Bookstore, Landmark.. Must say, I was a bit disappointed with their collection.
The first thing you notice as you enter the Apeejay Business Center on Haddows road is the Red and white coloring of the store and the banners outside the store.. Once you step in, you walk right into their Enquiry/reception/Bill counter area where a lone lady sat dwidling her thumbs.. I had gone to the store with my sister and we both went our seperate ways making a bee line for the author’s we enjoy.. I had to walk around the left side of the store, over some books lying strewn on the floor and a security lady standing next to an aisle, moving on, I also discovered that the store is on multi levels and so are the books.. Its like having a book shelf along the staircase, so as you walk down, you see some books and so on. Hope you get the picture...
The books are arranged as per the Genre but not very well organised, cos I found a couple of odd poetry books mixed along with literature , so this made it difficult to browse through and find the book I was looking for, Kiran Desai’s award winning book. Got tired after a couple of mins and approached a salesperson who said they were out of Kiran’s books. I think their main focal point is the basement Kids section, which has some pretty interesting books and a nice comfy seating area ..
They have a Cha Bar upstairs, but we dint go there, although i’d heard they serve some good Fries and coffee...
Having gotten dejected, I dragged my sister and decided to get out of the store and head towards Landmark... Unfortunately for Me, any bookstare pales in comparison ever since Landmark came along...
Do check it out once atleast to know what else is there in Chennai.. and if you would rather go to a smaller store, this is the place to be in...
Happy Reading... Happy Browsing...