Oman’s first theme-book store opens

Muscat: Muscat residents have another great book store to visit and buy from, as Oman’s first theme-book store opened its doors to customers last weekend in the Central Business District (CBD) area of Ruwi.
An initiative of Al Bhaj Trading, the state-of the art book store has a great handpicked collection, which, according to the owners has been brought together to suit the requirements of Muscat’s residents and citizens.
The book shop has separately themed sections, which are designed in a unique way to create a certain mood for customers as they enter a specific section.
Islamic books are kept in a mosque’s dome like structure with appropriate texts written all over the stand, while books on Omani history and kept in a fort like-structure, cookery and health-related books are kept on a kitchen stand and children’s books are laid out on a train like shelf.
There are all sorts of books at the store, which has a huge collection of 20,000 books, which include pre-school to college books, guides, grammar and cookery books, fiction and non-fiction, history books and several others. Apart from this, school and office stationery, sports and other gift items are also available.
Spread over a large area of 5,200 square feet and divided into two floors, the store has kept its prices competitive.
“It is a place where one can get all items required for education under one roof,” said P.M. Shouckathali, managing director of Al Bhaj Trading.
There is a separate reading corner, which has been designed to encourage customers to read the books before buying them. The store plans to add more chairs and a few bean bags to the section to give it a distinct look and make it more comfortable.