Famous Global Bookshop

_{picture of the exterior}

The famous bookshop in Uyo, which doesn't have a banner attached to its shop for visibility, is a big bookshop in a small place. As the name implies, the bookshopis famous for real. How? Tell me how someone will be working from morning till he closes, with no rest.

The fame of this place has made customers flood in their numbers, giving the seller no other option but to look for employees to assist him in this job. Before doing a review of this place, I went to another bookshop, and to my surprise, they requested an identity. They said I must write a letter that is signed and stamped by an institution or establishment.

See problem. Oh. I was like, 'I want to purchase books and would love to snap the books I purchase and also take pictures of myself to show that I came here.' Hmmmmm... In Uyo, it's very difficult to snap someone's business place because we are afraid of our business being seen on social media. So I decided to visit another store. This time, I came with a tricky strategy using the feedback I got from the first store.

I told the bookseller that I was given an assignment to do a business review and that it's a tertiary institution he's aware of. Can you believe this man allowed me to do the review? I couldn't think of any other strategy. This is one problem we face when reviewing places. **Let's check out Famous Bookshop.

Famous Book store is located at Ifa Atai Big junction, across the other lane known as mbak rd., but since we are especially fond of the name Ifa Atai, we decided to name it after the bookshop as a possible location hint to getting to this place. Ifa Atai is more of a dominant place. It's easier for a Bus driver to know this place than the Mbak. The real address is at No.24 Mbak rd., but people can access it using Ifa Atai as location landmark.

_{This is a picture of the street where bike men are lined}

Famous bookshop can be accessed via three different routes. The first is for those coming from Airport Rd. You can access this place by Ifa Big Junction, as the street to the bookshop is opposite Ifa Atai Street. You can get in quickly if you're using the service lane, but for those coming from Shelter Afrique and the main Oron Rd, you'll have to pass Ifa Big junction and look for the nearest U-turn to get to the street opposite Ifa Big junction; that's if you're driving.

If you're not, you can stop by Ifa Atai Big Junction and cross over to the opposite lane. There's a street there in which, if you walk for about 2 minutes, you'll get to the bookshop by your right, located with lines of shops on a connective basis.

In that same street where the bookshop is, there's a link road that brings you to this place. So if you're coming from Nwaniba and you know this link road, the shop would be by your left, close to the Ifa Atai Market area or Mbak Rd Junction.

The seller in question is a popular book merchant. He rented this place to do a small but large business service to the people who go to big stationers just to purchase textbooks for school. Though the store is small, it has all you would want in a bookshop. I was asking myself what the difference between a stationer's and bookstore is. Do you know what I found out?

Leaving the dictionary aside, all book stores in my area are small spaces where books are kept. I don't know if it's because it's in the local community, but that's what I discovered. They are both the same, though. So as the owner and manager of this place, he ensures the smooth running of his business. He's the first Ibibio man I've seen that's so business-minded like the Igbos.

He does do national shipping of his goods, not just in the state he's based in. Some books, like the medical dictionary, are imported. So he has a national connection in his business. He's not affixed to a particular place. I didn't bother asking him when he established this place to prevent questions that touch the heart. But from research, I came to meet him here since 2014. This means he has been in this business for more than 11 years. How remarkable could this be for one to be successful for 11 good years??

There are currently 3 employees in the shop who assist in selling, packaging, accepting payments and providing information on certain things. These 3 employees plus the manager himself are divided into sections to do this work. While one stays outside to package products bought by the customers, another one ensures he attends to customers' questions, while another gets directions from the one receiving orders on what to bring from the shelves.

picture of the store from a distance	picture of some imported textbooks

These are their activities. While the manager takes documentaries on what is purchased in bulk and retail, another one receives and verifies payments from customers. These are their activities unavoidably, as they have what is called division of labour in that place. The manager does importation of goods, purchases from big stationaries, export and the likes.

This bookstore has actually competed with a lot of retail shops that sell cardboard, books and other writing materials. Customers would rather trek long distances to buy in the bookstore than in other retail stores because of their prices.

The place is located in the rural community, and the shop is rented. This prevents it from having facilities except for the veranda and warehouse for fragile goods. I couldn't access the warehouse, but I could see that there's a veranda with a chair by the door to welcome old and stressed people who may come with a list of items to make purchases that may take minutes or hours if care is not taken.

A picture of me in their varenda	**Seating area for elderly **

As for lighting, the man uses natural light during the day and runs his generator at night. As you can see, there's a switch for the fan and bulb. I couldn't make that obvious to avoid suspicion even though I came up with the excuse that I'm working on an assignment.

The bookstore in a house of books and academic materials which I'll state using each shelf below.

This hymn book is either red or green and it's a song book used in school morning devotion activities or in church. In most schools, every student must have a hymn book. In my days, teachers usually flog students because they don't have a hymn book to use in morning devotion. They made this so mandatory. This is the shelf the book is, well arranged.

_{Hymn books}

These dictionaries are kept in a shelf for easy identification. It's surprising to see a medical dictionary sold here, though in small quantities. These dictionaries stated here are big sized dictionaries. They have medium sized and small sized dictionaries.

_{pictures of their dictionary section}

_{Bible section}

Wondered why most people don't have bibles in their home? It's expensive as a holy book. This is the shelf for Bibles both small and large. I didn't bother asking about the prices of the large sized bibles. They are packaged in white cellophane. Beside the bible section are story books of different types.

This is the literature and story book section. In this section, literatures are shelved on a separate column for identification and these literature are categorised as different classes have their own literature. Story books are cheap enough to be bought and read by anyone.

Story books section	literature section

_{children's story book section}

We have other books and materials which includes;

Packs of pens
Calculators
Liquid gum section
Textbooks
Correction pens
Exercise books section

The book I bought was a hardcover notebook for my brother in SS1 and this happens to be sold at 3500. I paid in cash since i made withdrawals that day. Regardless, they accept online, cash and card payment as they have a POS machine that enables card payments. This is their account details at the door post to enable customers run transactions even if they are in a queue without having to stress the employees or workers to call the details out.

	Payment method for online transactions
	Hardcover Notebook for my brother #3500

Like I said, ot has been opened for over 14 years since 2014 when I came into this city. On a normal day, they open by 7Am knowing fully well that students and teachers may need their services before going to school as early as possible. They usually close late at night when there are lots of customers in demand for products. Their affixed closing time is 8pm.

Back then it was just the man and this customers as they'll have to obey the principle of first come, first served. This also made them stand in queues for so long. At some point, some people will leave for another bookstore because they are not attended to. Currently, the presence of 3 employees has made work easy for the manager himself. These employees offer the best of services to customers. They even help customers carry their load to their vehicles. Purchases become so easy to do.

If you're looking for anything writing materials, gum, sellotapes, academic materials, t-squares, books, novels, bibles, calculators and the likes, visit Famous Bookstore. It's the only famous bookstore you'll ever know.