City's Finest Book Store Shuts Shop

Veda Ramaswamy, Vashi

May 6, 2010, DNA Navi Mumbai

A premium lifestyle store in Palm Beach Galleria Mall in Vashi, The Odyssey became an instant hit after its launch. The fantastic collection of books, music, movies, cards, stationery, gifts, toys, multimedia etc. that the store offered appealed to one and all. In no time, it became a popular hub with residents of Navi Mumbai.

The first-of-its-kind store in Navi Mumbai, it offered readers and music fans a vast repertoire to choose from. This was even before Crossword set shop at Inorbit Mall. Since readers had very few options then to pick latest books from across genres, it was but natural that they thronged the store and loved to spend hours here scouting through books and searching for their favourite authors.

That Odyssey has shut shop at the once-popular mall has come as a shock to customers. Blame it on recession or on losing popularity of the mall, but residents rue being denied of a popular book and leisure store. Sheryl Pinto (19), a student residing in sector16, Vashi said, “I was a frequent visitor to the Odyssey store in Galleria mall. It was a paradise for book and movie lovers like me as everything was available under one single roof. Now that it has closed, I don’t find the mall worth visiting anymore.”

Suraj Uchil (20), a student residing in sector 9, Vashi had a different opinion on the matter and said, “Odyssey used to be a major crowd puller for Palm Beach Galleria mall. People would spend hours at the shop here scouting for their favourite authors, toys, gifts and lots more. The news of its shutdown clearly indicates the lack of business here. It is sad. The good thing is people won’t miss the store as there are many other alternatives now available like Crosswords for bookworms and Planet M for music lovers.”

When contacted, one of the officials of the store on condition of anonymity replied, “The management decided to shut the store but whether they plan to start elsewhere is still a question. They may decide to move to another mall or set up an independent store elsewhere.”