Bookstores War in Malaysia!

Woohoo!
We first had the telco operators against one another;

Maxis vs DiGi vs Celcom

Then the wars went into the sky when

MAS vs AirAsia

Now, itz Times vs MPH vs Popular!!!

They are seriously making the consumers think hard before they spend their buckz. LOL!
I believe it is all back to us, consumers to pick which is best for us. Some offerings maybe valuable. Some maybe just there to compete. Some others...well, you decide.

Here'z a lil comparison between the Bookstore Sales.
I'm not too sure who started the war but the first sale I knew about is organized by the Times Bookstore. So lemme start with Times Bookstore.

It was held in conjunction of the World Book Day. The book fair was endorsed by World Book Day UK committee and the Irish ambassador. Objective? To promote books and reading to EVERYONE. books are for ALL. Wanna read more about Times Bookstore and World Book Day? Click here.

Start Date :
5th March 2009
End Date :
31st March 2009
Time :
10am - 10pm
Venue :
Pavilion KL, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Hartamas Shopping Centre, CapSquare Shopping Centre and Warisan Square Sabah.
Offerings :
1. 20% STOREWIDE discount for member and 10% for non-members. Well, you can always apply to be a member; RM15 only. =) Was member but yet to renew your membership? Now renewal fee is only RM10 for 2-years. OMG! Btw, STOREWIDE includes the new ones too!!!
2. Book Fair. Yes! It is back! Same place. Better offerings! Discounts upto 90% and 30% discount for bestsellers! Incase, you've never been there, it is at Level 1, Hartamas Shopping Centre. It is from 13th March to 22nd March; 11am to 9pm. Be sure to bring your kids! They'd surely love it. I've been there once. To check out my prev post, click here.

Twilight fans, click here to see what Times has got for you. ;)

'Nuff with Times. Letz move on to MPH.

Start Date :
7th March 2009
End Date :
17th March 2009
Time :
Not mentioned. Could be the normal 9am to 10pm.
Venue :
3rd Floor Event Hall, Bangsar Village 2.
Offerings :
1. Discounts up to 70%. Not too sure on what items; Bestsellers or ....
2. Stock Clearance Promotion. Where? Mayang Plaza, Jln ss26/2, Taman Mayang PJ from 14th to 2nd March; 9.30am to 7pm. Members get RM5 voucher for every RM150 nett purchases.
For those of you who doesn't know where it is, do ask Mr.Wikipedia or Mr.GoogleMap. Parking wise? I'm not too sure if they have ample space so do go early IF you plan to go. ;) To view the ad, click here.

Guess that is all the info I've got for MPH...now letz get to the last one at war; Popular Bookstore.

Start Date :
11th March 2009
End Date :
22nd March 2009
Time :
Varies according to the location. Do check out their ad here.
Venue :
Only 4 locations; Summit USJ Subang Jaya, Plaza Pelangi Johor, IOI Mall Puchong and Berjaya Mega Mall Pahang.
Offerings :
1. Discounts up to 90%.
2. RM5 voucher for every RM100 spent on the same day in a single receipt.

My overall view?
It won't be fair to say that Popular is not much of a competitor. Anyway, to look on the brighter side, if I'm not mistaken, Popular is the only one which has educational books for Malaysian students(among the stores warring ATM). Definitely be a good time for parents to buy revision and reference books. =) Popular could win easily too as they cater both parents and children's needs. Too bad sale is only available at 4 locations.

MPH? The online sale is forever so if you happen to have you eye on a book and wish to pay less, shoponline. If you spend more than RM150, delievery is FOC. I've bought a few books from their online store. Click here to read my post where I blabbed about it. No points accumulation for members. =/ Only members are eligible to get the RM5 voucher. No. You can't buy your membership on the fly. Their stock clearance is in Taman Mayang PJ. The place may not be as accessible for all and many doesn't know where it is too. Considering it is now a rainy season, won't be nice to get lost in. Haha. Anyway, there is still Bangsar Village. =)

Lastly, Times Bookstore. I believe their people are working hard in the background especially when they manage to get the endorsement from the World Book Day committee and also the Irish ambassador. Besides that, they also have a few authors apprearances in Pavilion.I have a post on this. Click here to view. I have to say they are smart to have Travel Promo where they give discounts on travel accessories....Matta Fair. Remember? ;)

So who's gonna win? No one knows. Best of luck to MPH and Times. hihihi If I'm not too broke, I'd definitely go to Times Bookfair in Hartamas. Been there last time and 3hours is not enough! Plus, non-members could benefit from it too. Kids could juz runaround and pick what they like. Well, this is from my past experience. =) Why won't I go to Bangsar Village for MPH or Summit for Popular? Well, let'z just say....these 2 places are not within my radius. =p Not somewhere I usually hang out. No offense but Summit could be very dull. IOI? Sowie. Not-so hangout place too. If you say MidValley or Gardens, I'd probably say Yes. =) If popular were to have their Book Fest now, MPH and Times would have to work harder.

Enjoy the weekend and I hope more would pick up reading especially kids and young adults. Reading is a gazillion times better than juz sit around at some mamak talking nonsense and come home smelling like cig and of coz mamak. JK =p

That'z all for now.

Feel free to share your bookshopping experience if you have been to any of the war-sites mentioned above.

Cheers!

p/s: The choice is yours. I like what I like. You may not like what I like. I may not like what you like. =p