Librerías Gandhi (Gandhi Bookstores) is a

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

chain in Mexico. They were created in 1971 and are one of the biggest bookstore chains in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. After 40 years they now have more than 30 stores all over the country. The public that comes to the bookstores are mostly students, teachers, young adults, professionals, and anyone interested in culture and looking for information or entertainment.

History

Gandhi Bookstores were founded in June 1971, by Mauricio Achar. He created the bookstore in the belief that a great amount of the country's problems were due to the lack of reading by its population. The bookstore took its name from

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

and his influence; Achar wanted to do the same. The original store occupied 150 square meters, and was located at Miguel Ángel de Quevedo 128, south of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Even though it was small, the store had a

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

of its own, where people would gather not just to read, but for cultural activities such as watching movies, theatrical plays, listening to music, etc. These were the basic things that made people more interested in going more often to the bookstore.

Stores

Today, there are 34 different Gandhi Bookstores; 17 are located within Mexico City and 17 in other parts of the country. One store is located inside El Palacio de Hierro in the country's capital, and more exist in select Walmart Supercenters, and also in Mexico City's airport. They also have an online store that sells books internationally, allowing people from outside Mexico to access unique books from Latin American authors.

Products

*Books *CDs *DVDs *T-shirts *Games for children

References

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‘Wallpaper the Country With Books’: Mexico’s Gandhi Bookstores
{{Mahatma Gandhi Bookstores of Mexico 1971 establishments in Mexico