Any mag under the sun

Any mag under the sun

Magazines, the new store on Church Street, offers foreign mags and back issues at unbelievable prices

The Hindu

CAPTIVATING COLLECTION The Wall Street Journal or The Statesman,you're sure to find it here

Magazine buying won't be the same in the city now that we've got a lavish new nook called, well, Magazines. This outlet on Church Street by Noor Hussain Sait and Yahya Sait, the siblings who run Variety Book House, is the magazine store in town.

For those who don't know Variety Book House, it is the shop by the side of K.C. Das at the other end of Church Street, which sells every newspaper from The Wall Street Journal to The Statesman and has a loyal clientele. Magazines is their second store and is exclusively devoted to magazines from the U.K., U.S. and, of course, India. Spread over an area of 2,000 sq ft, it has everything from The Week to Maxim.

"We used to have a magazine sale before, which was a big hit. Soon people started asking us for more and more back issues. So I approached my cousin who told me this place was available, and in less than 15 days this was set up," says Yahya.

The outlet's USP is you get print fresh copies of even back issues. No more buying dog-eared or torn copies from raddiwallahs. And what's more, you get an 80-90 per cent discount on them. Like a copy of F1-Racing for as little as Rs. 30.

"We have a tie-up with the publishers who send us the magazines. There is something for everyone here. Diving, shooting, hunting, cycling, running... The prices are very cheap. You can't find them anywhere else for lesser than this," Yahya says.

There is no disputing the fact that there is something for everyone here. As you enter the store the shelves on the left are for Indian magazines while the ones on the right and on the tables are the foreign ones. They are neatly categorised into interiors, cinema, men, women, fashion, fitness, computers and politics. The Indian magazines are mostly current issues.

All the fun begins when you start going through the piles of magazines from abroad. The first ones that catch your eye are those devoted to celebrities such as OK! and People.

The sports section is the most elaborate in the store. You have magazines for every imaginable sport. Baseball, rugby, football, formula one, golf, diving, shooting, cricket, and even skiing. Magazines such as AS, F1-Racing and Wisden Cricket can be picked for practically next to nothing. Some of them even come with charismatic posters.

For those who want to find out who is hot and who's not, there is a host of glamour magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, Esquire, FHM, Stuff and Maxim.

The best-selling stuff apart, there also niche magazines. Airports is for aviation enthusiasts, Autocar and its likes are for gasoline addicts, Popular Science, Scientific America and Astronomy for the geeks and Muscle and Fitness are for the brawny kind. Music lovers can satisfy themselves with a copy of Rolling Stone or Gramophone.

The deal is even sweeter when it comes to computer and gaming books. These books come with free CDs which have loads of software and demo games. The Playstation magazines even come with demo cartridges.

The serious reader needn't feel left out. The likes of the New Yorker can be found on the shelves along with National Geographic. The kids' section here is exclusive. You can find all sorts of colourful books for your brats here. The range is just simply mind-boggling.

And don't worry about walking to the other end of the road to Variety to get your daily dose of newspapers; the same papers are available here also. Also you can subscribe to the magazines as well as the newspapers.

At present, the brothers have no plans to sell anything other than magazines and newspapers at the store.

Magazines is located at B-04, Prestige R.R. Building, Church Street (Brigade Road end).