Book lovers' Premier loss

Book lovers' Premier loss
DH News Service, Bangalore:
The news hit us with an air of inevitability. The impending closure of Premier Bookshop, located on the small stretch connecting MG Road and Church Street, will come as a shock to many, but old timers will only shake their heads at the fast disappearing landmark places in the city.


This month will see the closure of Indian Coffee House on MG Road as well as the Premier Bookshop, for the same reasons. Building owners now want their old tenants to move out in order to make way for lucrative business propositions.

Premier was supposed to have been closed in 2006. But its proprietor T S Shanbagh says that the lease had expired earlier and it was extended for a few months based on oral agreement. “We kept pushing it ahead every 3-4 months, but now even the owner of the building wants us to move out and so I thought I will close this shop,” he said.

Citing problems Shanbagh said he was not interested in extending the lease. Construction work adjacent to the bookstore has led to water seepage into the store. Even if it is fixed, Shanbagh says that there is no way anyone can do business with the exorbitant rents that the owners ask for.

Definitely not with the generous discounts that he is known to offer.

But there are other reasons as well. Shanbagh said that his eyes needed medical attention and after it is taken care of he wants to take some time off to visit his daughter in Australia. Understandably, he has not told many people about the closure, except for a few long standing customers, who smile as stoically as the owner of the store himself and continue browsing.

However, the word has spread and people have been calling constantly to know what happened.

Shanbagh intends to clear most of the books within the next 10 days and close the chapter on 37 years of history.

He admits, “I know its upsetting to close the place down and many of my customers are upset as well.” But then he shrugs and says “But what can I do. I do not have a choice.”