Shelf Life with Mid-Day: How this tech-savvy Mumbaikar is infusing new life into his 35-year-old bookstore

On a quiet afternoon in one of the bylanes of Goregaon West, this writer spots a cluttered yet evolving bookstore. Before she finds herself surrounded by tightly stacked books, she is welcomed by a wide variety of comic books that instantly transport her to her childhood days. Needless to say, the writer finds herself already developing an affinity towards the store.

The 25-year-old owner of the store, Deepak Jain greets her with a modest smile, open to sharing the story of how his bookstore, which he is so proud of, came to be.

Established in 1989, the Padmavati Bookstore is the brainchild of Deepak's 52-year-old father, Punjilal Jain. Originally from the state of Rajasthan, Jain first set foot in Mumbai to earn a living at the age of 25, like millions of others in the city.

What was first a magazine and scrap store was later converted into a full-fledged magazine and bookstore. Jain observed that there was a great demand for magazines and books. Banking on this, they began selling novels and earned profits in no time.

Lucrative options to attract customers
The store which was earlier run by Jain is now being operated by his son. Belonging to the new generation with a bachelor's degree in management studies, this Gen Z has employed a number of techniques to keep his customers coming back to him. To his great benefit, these strategies seem to be working well for him.

One of the services offered at Padmavati Bookstore that makes it stand out from the rest is its family library membership package. Deepak offers a month's library package to his customers at Rs 600. Under this, customers can take home unlimited books. Deepak allows an extension period of over 40-45 days to return the books. Those signing up for the first time have to pay a fully refundable one-time deposit of Rs 750.

Besides this, customers who don't wish to subscribe to this library plan can also take books on rent and return them when done reading. At Padmavati Bookstore, you can buy both, second-hand books as well as fresh copies. The price of second-hand books starts from Rs 50 and goes up Rs 500/1000 depending on the kind of book, author and demand.

Other than novels and comic books, you can also buy mythology and children's books from the store.

Due to these creative strategies, this bookstore receives over 30-40 customers daily, especially in times when most bookstores in Mumbai are battling to keep their stores alive.

Relevance of location
Although the store has existed in Goregaon since its inception, it shifted to a new location five years back. The store now nestles amidst a residential area. According to Deepak, setting up a store in a residential area, which houses a reading community, greatly helps.

For 30 years before that, the store was located at MG Road in Goregaon West. When asked if this shift in location led to any loss of customers, Deepak says, "Not at all."

Given its legacy, Padmavati Bookstore enjoys a loyal customer base that includes people of all age groups. "When we shifted to this area, our customers dialled us to find the new location. We have not lost a single customer."

True to this, the writer also had an opportunity to interact with one of the store's oldest customers, Preeti Jathana who dropped by the store to pick up some books for her daughter. This customer calls herself an old-fashioned reader. She says, "I will always choose hard copies over ebooks like Kindle."

Preeti has been buying books from Padmavati Bookstore since her college days. She says, "I am a fan of this store and it is because of uncle (Punjilal Jain) that my interest in reading hasn't dwindled. My innate love for books makes me come back to the store. Reading is a life skill, not just a hobby. It helps one broaden their mind and boosts imagination and creativity."

Preeti was at the bookstore with her eight-year-old daughter, Isabella. This bibliophile mother taught her daughter to read at the tender age of two using touch-feel books. "Currently, my daughter is reading a Nancy Drew book," says a proud Preeti.

Since the store is situated in a residential area, it also sells stationery items as a way to lure young readers to pick a novel when they visit the store to buy stationery items for their school/college.

Competing with ebooks
While senior citizens still prefer to buy physical books, Deepak speaks of facing stiff competition from ebooks and e-commerce platforms when tapping into the younger population. He says, "Novels are available at cheaper prices online. Most platforms offer pdf copies of the books for free. This is beneficial, especially for students who might not have the money to buy physical books. Besides, the waiting time to get your hands on new books is less when buying online. To get a physical copy of any book, it takes over two days."

Further, web series and movie adaptations of written books are yet another factor that affects the sales of books, Deepak informs. "Youngsters hardly have the patience to read the whole book that can take over a month to complete. They prefer watching series that are completed in a week or a movie that gets done in two to three hours."
Nevertheless, Deepak says that the charm of reading by holding a hard copy is incomparable. "No technology can replace that feeling or touch of a book. Old-fashioned readers, especially, will always ditch technology when it comes to reading books."

This gives the young store owner hope that bookstores will never run out of business.

Using technology to expand business
While Deepak could have taken up a job in any organisation, we chose to expand what his father set up decades back. He expresses, "I wanted to apply everything I had learned in college into running this store. Besides, it's only sensible to work for your father and support him in running the shop that is mine too."

Deepak surely has plans to expand his store and grow its customer base. The 25-year-old has sound knowledge of digital marketing and recognises the power of social media. Deepak promotes his business on social media platforms like Instagram. This tech-savvy bookseller releases key updates like the availability of new books on Instagram from time to time.

Further, he says, "I have put all the store's details on Google. This was especially required since we changed the location of our store. When one has to find something, they seek help from Google. My Google page helped my customers to find us. I had uploaded my father's photo along with the bookstore's nameplate to make it easier for people to find us."

"Besides, new customers looking for bookstores hit a Google search typing, ‘best bookstore near me' or ‘book stores in Goregaon'. The name of my bookstore ranks on Google. These are little ways in which technology does help."

Impact of Covid-19 on business
Like other businesses, Padmavati Bookstore also witnessed a slack initially. However, as the restrictions relaxed over time, customers stepped out to purchase books. Even during the partial lockdown, there was a notable demand for books, informs Deepak. He says, "People needed a break. They were too done being exposed to scary headlines of people dying from Covid-19 infection. They didn't want to know the count of daily cases, nor were they enjoying binge-watching series. I got calls from my customers asking for delivery of books."

Even during the partial lockdown, Deepak was on his toes to cater to the demands of his customers. He himself delivered books to his customers living in and outside of Goregaon.

On a parting note, Deepak, who himself loves to read non-fiction, self-help and financial books, shares his vision for the bookstore. He says, "I want to make this bookstore a brand people recognise. I have already started building a social media presence through Instagram but it's still at a local level. When the time is right, I want to develop a proper online platform for Padmavati Bookstore from where people can check out the available books and maybe even place orders. I also want to begin organising book fairs where a large number of people from across Mumbai can come and buy books from us at much cheaper rates."

Address: Shop no.1 Vasundhara Society, Shastri Nagar, road no.1, near Tree House School, towards, New Link Rd, opposite road of Siddharth Hospital, Goregaon West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400104
Contact: 90043 45919 / 098208 36245