Landmark ...

Landmark was certainly a pioneer among retail stores in Chennai. It was started by an extremely dynamic woman called Hemu. She used to work in the Taj Coramandel bookstore for a few years before she took the plunge and set up her own bookstore - "Landmark"

I have spent many a day happily browsing through the books there. The store then expanded from their initial store in Nungambakkam, Chennai to Coimbatore, Kolkata and a second store in Chennai - at Spencers Plaza.

Hemu recently sold her chain for 104 crores !

Yesterday, I went by Landmark and I was struck by how poor the overall shopping experience was.

• The books were in poor order, with several books out of the alphabetical order.
• There are random products scattered across the store with no real logic - Glass bowls next to CD's next to cell phones.
• Horrible method to leave outside bags - You have to collect it on another floor
• Only one billing point
• Staff generally clueless about books

Landmark has drifted very far from their initial focus - Books. Now, they sell anything under the sky with a good profit margin. And the lack of maturity in the Chennai retail market enables them to do this without a well-planned shopping experience !!