The trend of book cafe is catching up in tricity

What does it take for a business to survive decade after decade? The answer is improvising with the changing times, a concept well-understood by Bahrisons Booksellers as they make book cafes back in vogue in tricity.

In bookselling business since 1952, Anuj Bahri, son of Balaraj Bahri (founder) is carrying forward the family business that combines reading and socialising. And now they have stepped out of New Delhi to make Chandigarh its first step in their expansion model.

But why Chandigarh? Answers Anuj, “Because we had customers from Chandigarh who would take the pain to travel to Delhi to visit us. And coming to Chandigarh will not only serve them but will help us associate with the intellectuals of the city. That’s why we don’t hire a fancy manager or an MBA graduate as our store manager but prefer people who have worked with us for a number of years and have that hands-on experience to provide service to avid readers.”

About its location, Anuj says, “Sector 8 is centrally located and with Panjab University close by, we get walk-ins as well as regular clients.”

Anuj, who advocates one-to-one experience over franchise, believes that establishing a brand and then commercialising it is not their way of doing business. “If we expand, it will always have a family member and our team running it. For now, going by the warm welcome in Chandigarh, there is a plan to bring in another store but the venue is not final yet, whether it will be Chandigarh or Ludhiana,” he says. — Sheetal

The USP

Ranging from general books to collector’s item like The Impossible Collection of Fashion, a coffee-table book that costs a whopping Rs 96, 000, the store offers a great variety. From, leather-bound classics to cloth-stitch classics, Japanese Manga collection to Marvel and DC comic collection, it has everything covered.