Lina Kazem Kutob is the Manager of the University Bookshop in Jordan. Here she tells us about the shops she runs with her siblings and business partners.
Where are the shops? University Bookshop was started by our late father, Kazem Kutob, in 1969. We currently have three branches all in Amman the capital of Jordan. One is on Gardens Street, within a commercial area, the other is on Queen Rania Street opposite the main gates of Jordan University and the third in within the campus of Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT)
How large are your shops and how many books do you have on display? The shops sizes vary and are approx. 300m2 on Gardens St., 200 m2 on Queen Rania St, and 45m2 at PSUT.
How many people work with you? The total number of staff in all three branches is 12.
What kinds of books do you sell? In English, we sell general, trade, fiction, children's books, references, medical, as well as of course, higher education textbooks in most fields, all of which we import from world renowned publishers. We also sell Arabic books and references from local and Pan-Arab publishers.
Where do your customers come from? The customers of the two branches close to the universities are mostly students and academics. As for the branch on Gardens Street, the customers range from local book lovers to tourists and students.
What do you most enjoy about being a bookseller? There's a lot that I enjoy doing my job, as I'm the book buyer and the bookseller. I get to meet reps, learn about the latest and greatest publications before anyone else. I also enjoy going through the books as the shipments arrive and talking to customers about the books we've read.
Do you organise events in your shop, such as book signings? Yes, we do. We also participate in events in venues outside of our shop.
What have been your best-selling books this year? In fiction The Alchemist (Paul Coelho) and Forty Rules of Love (Elif Shafak) still top the charts.
What are you reading at the moment? I've just finished reading Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani.
Batch and Your Business
How does Batch help? We have been using Batch services since July 2005 and – up to June 2016 – we have made almost 130 monthly payments to Batch rather than the would-be thousands to our suppliers. Batch is accurately managing our dues and taking care of our payments in a manner that means we are always within our credit terms and therefore our accounts with our suppliers are always up-to-date. Also, the access to our invoices and historical data provide us with ample information and analytics that help us guide our book business going forward. We thoroughly enjoy the benefits and savings of Batch. Thank you Batch. Batch and Pubeasy are a bookseller heaven!
University Bookshop
273 Queen Rania Alabdullah Street, Opp. Main Gates of Jordan University, Amman 11181, Jordan
Tel: +00 962 6 5330211
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Facebook.com/UnivBookshop
