Review of bookstore biased

Djakarta's review of bookstores (February 2001) is an attempt to convince the public that the Times bookstore is bad and QB World bookstore is the best. It is very poorly written and biased, and is aimed at discrediting Times rather than giving the public useful and accurate information on the city's English- language bookstores.

It says that our layout "follows no logic and is therefore confusing, categories seemingly randomly arranged". This is a very personal, subjective comment by the writer. The writer should have explained what kind of logic was used to make such a judgment as nobody else ever gets confused in our bookstore or complains about it.

We, like any other bookstore, have our own way of making attractive displays and categorical arrangement of books for pleasant browsing. Also, our well-trained and experienced staff, all of whom have been with us for the past five years, are always ready to provide assistance. And if they are unable to respond satisfactorily to an inquiry, they refer the customer to our retail executives or branch managers, all of whom have been trained at our head office in Singapore.

Moreover, the writer's comment that many books in our stores, even new titles, are in very shabby condition only shows a lack of knowledge about what titles are new. At our stores, new titles are always showcased prominently in our display windows so that customers can get a glimpse of the range of books we offer before deciding to step into our stores.

Concerning price difference with other bookstores, the writer ignores the fact that price fluctuations from one bookstore to another, or from one store (any store) to another, is normal. He also does not seem to understand that books brought from local distributors can be sold at cheaper prices because they enjoy a higher discount from the publishers. We are not distributors but retailers.

MOHD LAZMI

Branch Manager

Times

Jakarta