JEDDAH, 24 January 2006 — You may not believe that there is a shop in Jeddah where books are sold by the kilo. And where those selling the books have no idea of the books’ value. The shop is situated in one of the city’s most popular markets, the Sawarikh in south Jeddah.
Arab News visited the shop where many old books by famous authors are on display. Books dealing with religious, political, economic and health subjects, in both English and Arabic, are available at surprisingly cheap prices.
Saleh Al-Ghamdi, owner of one of the shops, said that he bought the books cheaply from people who sell them in the market. “We also get books from some government departments.”
Talking about the prices, Al-Ghamdi said his shop did not focus much on prices “since we know that no one will buy the books if the prices are too high.” He said most of the buyers were expatriates.
Abdul Malik, a Bangladeshi salesman, said he charged the clients according to the number they bought rather than their individual value. “We sell some books for SR1 and SR2,” Abdul Malik told Arab News. “We also offer good discounts to people who buy in bulk,” he added.
Abdul Malik likes his job since he meets a large number of clients every day, including women and children. “Small children come to our shop looking for cheap story books,” he added.
Muhammad, a regular Egyptian customer of Abdul Malik’s shop, said he had bought a lot of interesting and valuable books from the shops in the Sawarikh market.
“Some of the books in this market are not even available in major book stores,” he told Arab News.
