Some trend spotting

RETAIL: As Landmark opens in Gurgaon, a look at this music and book retailer's growth plan.

For those who have shunned Gurgaon/DLF City for its terrifying traffic snarls if nothing else, here's one good reason to visit: Landmark has opened a 23,000-sq-ft store there. This signals the Chennai-based books and music retailer's foray into north India.

"Our increasing spread gives us a better platform to negotiate rates and formats," says Hemu Ramaiah, CEO, Landmark, "We are the only ones who can ask publishers to give us paperback versions for hardbacks."

That boast speaks volumes about the power of retail volumes. Landmark is looking at opening six stores every year, for which it has earmarked an annual investment of some Rs 30 crore. While Delhi and Mumbai are critical to the plan, it's also entering tier II cities.

There will be stores in Pune and Lucknow this year, to add to its existing seven stores in Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and Vadhodara.

And up ahead is not just expansion, but backward integration of sorts. "We are toying with the idea of getting into publishing, as we want to look at commissioning some translations of Indian authors," discloses Ramaiah.

To support all its plans, Landmark intends to train its staff rigorously in domain knowledge aimed at high service standards. "The staff," says Himanshu Chakrawarti, COO, Landmark, "will be asked to handle merchandise and backend logistics initially, and then we organise sessions with publishers so that they get to know of trends."

The reasoning: book buyers are not shoppers who can be treated lightly. "They are intelligent people," says Ramaiah, "it's a shameful thing to tell them you haven't heard of an asked-for title."

This sort of customer sensitivity has been integral to Landmark's modus oeprandi ever since it began in 1987 and got off to a roaring start. "We bought all the interesting titles which we thought would work well here," she reminisces, "and people just came pouring in."

The chain continues to exercise a certain sense of judgment in its choice of books, letting customers know just how well it keeps itself updated "" which has won it swarms of loyalists.

"The trick is to be trendspotting all the time," she says, "The idea is to be able to sell a new title like Book Thief... there's no joy in selling a John Grisham, as you know it'll sell anyway."

Another Landmark plan is to sell books online, while starting off book clubs, quizes and other such activities.