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Building the 'Book Empire'
A few weeks back I had
been to Chennai for a
shot visit. During that
time I went to one of my
favorite hub, Landmark
– the famous bookstore.
I felt the same thrill
that I had felt when I
had stepped into it for
the first time in 2002,
quite a nostalgic
experience. I wonder how
many outside Chennai know
that this famous brand of
books house that had its
humble beginnings in the
basement of an office
building, is the result
of a dream that Hemu
Ramaiah had envisioned 21
years back.
When Hemu started the bookstore Landmark in Chennai in 1987 with an investment of Rs 12 lakh and 18 employees, there was only one Higginbothams in the city and Crosswords and Odyssey were still not a part of the Indian picture. Now, 21 years later, Landmark has become a landmark as far as bookstores are concerned and has revolutionized the book buying and reading experience in India. With 18 stores all over India and a brand worth more than Rs 240 crore, Landmark is a shining example of stellar entrepreneurship.
Hemu had set up small bookstores of around 250-300 sq ft for a hotel chain and used to buy books for the shops but every time she looked at the catalogues, she found that what was available in India was not even a fraction of what was being published. Some executive from the hotel’s management team at Mumbai used to decide what books to import and he was doing that without any idea of what the readers here wanted. There was a complete disconnect between the person who was choosing the books and the person who was buying the books. Also in those days, bookstores were synonymous to stores selling textbooks for schools and colleges and only few sold the one odd fictions. Hemu saw that there was a huge market for other kind of books, which till then had never come to India. Hence, with an initial investment from Hemu’s brother, Landmark was born as a general bookshop.
Since she could not afford a showroom on Mount Road (in the heart of the city), Hemu took a basement in an office building on Nungambakkam High Road. In those days, the whole of Nungambakkam High Road used to get about four to five cars in the evening! There was no retailer on that road and everyone said that it was a big risk. In one of her talks Hemu had said, "I must tell you if it were any other product, I wouldn't have chosen a place like that. Because it was a bookstore, I knew a book lover would find it anyway."
Landmark became a landmark on the Nungambakkam High Road. But she soon realized that since India shopped in families, a pure bookshop model would not work had to develop it into a multi-product store. There was no other bookstore that had the same format and it worked! Soon it expanded to music, gaming, CD ROMs, toys and others. Later as the store began to grow, Hemu decided to move to Spencers (one of the first malls in Chennai) that had newly opened up.
As time went, the brand began to grow and there was need to grow to all the big cities in India but the company faced a financial crunch for as it did not have enough money to scale up to such a high level. Hemu, thereby, decided to sell instead of going and approaching venture capitalists or PE funds. It took almost two years to meet the people and finally it was decided to rope in Tata's Trent as strategic investor because they ran Westside and some hypermarkets. Now there are over about 18 Landmark stores in the major cities across India.
In 2003, Hemu’s brother Nataraj Ramaiah sold his 76 percent stake in the company to Tata's Trent while she held on to her 24 per cent. Early this year, she too sold her 24 percent to Tata's Trent and withdrew completely from Landmark.
No entrepreneur is disconnected with his/her venture and she believes this holds true for all entrepreneurs. I came across one of her interviews with Rediff.com some time back, where she had discussed the reason for this move. “It was not easy to relinquish my stake of 24 percent also in Landmark. As you are not the majority stakeholder and can't run the business the way you want, you might as well let it go. If you ask any entrepreneur, I don't think she would say she is 100 per cent happy after selling her stake. She would be telling a lie if she said so. It is not that you dilute the dream; the original vision dilutes, and you will start running the business for different reasons,” she said.
Hers is not the solo case. This has happened time and again with all entrepreneurs who have sold majority equity stakes. But she has moved on. Now, she has started Shop4 Solutions, a retail-consulting firm along with her husband, Jai Subramaniam, who is a chartered accountant. Here she provides end-to-end solutions for anybody who wants to get into retail. One can only hope that she creates and leaves a legacy in this field too as she had for the numerous bookworms across India.
When Hemu started the bookstore Landmark in Chennai in 1987 with an investment of Rs 12 lakh and 18 employees, there was only one Higginbothams in the city and Crosswords and Odyssey were still not a part of the Indian picture. Now, 21 years later, Landmark has become a landmark as far as bookstores are concerned and has revolutionized the book buying and reading experience in India. With 18 stores all over India and a brand worth more than Rs 240 crore, Landmark is a shining example of stellar entrepreneurship.
Hemu had set up small bookstores of around 250-300 sq ft for a hotel chain and used to buy books for the shops but every time she looked at the catalogues, she found that what was available in India was not even a fraction of what was being published. Some executive from the hotel’s management team at Mumbai used to decide what books to import and he was doing that without any idea of what the readers here wanted. There was a complete disconnect between the person who was choosing the books and the person who was buying the books. Also in those days, bookstores were synonymous to stores selling textbooks for schools and colleges and only few sold the one odd fictions. Hemu saw that there was a huge market for other kind of books, which till then had never come to India. Hence, with an initial investment from Hemu’s brother, Landmark was born as a general bookshop.
Since she could not afford a showroom on Mount Road (in the heart of the city), Hemu took a basement in an office building on Nungambakkam High Road. In those days, the whole of Nungambakkam High Road used to get about four to five cars in the evening! There was no retailer on that road and everyone said that it was a big risk. In one of her talks Hemu had said, "I must tell you if it were any other product, I wouldn't have chosen a place like that. Because it was a bookstore, I knew a book lover would find it anyway."
Landmark became a landmark on the Nungambakkam High Road. But she soon realized that since India shopped in families, a pure bookshop model would not work had to develop it into a multi-product store. There was no other bookstore that had the same format and it worked! Soon it expanded to music, gaming, CD ROMs, toys and others. Later as the store began to grow, Hemu decided to move to Spencers (one of the first malls in Chennai) that had newly opened up.
As time went, the brand began to grow and there was need to grow to all the big cities in India but the company faced a financial crunch for as it did not have enough money to scale up to such a high level. Hemu, thereby, decided to sell instead of going and approaching venture capitalists or PE funds. It took almost two years to meet the people and finally it was decided to rope in Tata's Trent as strategic investor because they ran Westside and some hypermarkets. Now there are over about 18 Landmark stores in the major cities across India.
In 2003, Hemu’s brother Nataraj Ramaiah sold his 76 percent stake in the company to Tata's Trent while she held on to her 24 per cent. Early this year, she too sold her 24 percent to Tata's Trent and withdrew completely from Landmark.
No entrepreneur is disconnected with his/her venture and she believes this holds true for all entrepreneurs. I came across one of her interviews with Rediff.com some time back, where she had discussed the reason for this move. “It was not easy to relinquish my stake of 24 percent also in Landmark. As you are not the majority stakeholder and can't run the business the way you want, you might as well let it go. If you ask any entrepreneur, I don't think she would say she is 100 per cent happy after selling her stake. She would be telling a lie if she said so. It is not that you dilute the dream; the original vision dilutes, and you will start running the business for different reasons,” she said.
Hers is not the solo case. This has happened time and again with all entrepreneurs who have sold majority equity stakes. But she has moved on. Now, she has started Shop4 Solutions, a retail-consulting firm along with her husband, Jai Subramaniam, who is a chartered accountant. Here she provides end-to-end solutions for anybody who wants to get into retail. One can only hope that she creates and leaves a legacy in this field too as she had for the numerous bookworms across India.
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