A bookstore with zero staff just opened in Dubai. It runs on public trust (Representational Image)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates:
If you are a bookworm and happen to be in Dubai, then you must not miss a chance to visit the city's first-ever 24x7 'trust' bookshop and that too with no 'support staff'.
The bookshop, named Book Hero, is running a mini pop-up stand at Marina Walk in Dubai Marina through May.
What's more is that although the store does not have any staff, it instead runs on public trust.
Book Hero has over 20,000 novels in store and relies on a payment drop box called the Trust Box, making it the region's first unstaffed bookshop.
All the customers have to do is to just drop their money in the box and be on the way! Amazing, isn't it?
Montserrat Martin, the owner of Book Hero, partnered up with Emirati entrepreneur Mohammed Abdulla Alqubaisi to come up with the idea, believing in customer trust.
"We don't employ staff simply because we trust our customers. I visit the place once a day to replace stock and collect money," Martin told Gulf News.
Commenting on whether someone would steal a book and walk away, Martin added, "Nobody would steal a book and even if someone does it would cost me just 300 dirhams which is nothing compared to what I would spend on hiring staff and paying for overheads like visa and insurance."
Book-lovers will find it very easy to navigate through prices as well. The books will be tagged with green and yellow stickers to indicate their prices, ranging from 10 dirhams to 20 dirhams respectively.
Most of the books on offer are in English and Arabic. However, there is a good amount of French, Russian, Spanish and Chinese books as well, making the store a truly "one-world destination" for bookworms.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The bookshop, named Book Hero, is running a mini pop-up stand at Marina Walk in Dubai Marina through May.
What's more is that although the store does not have any staff, it instead runs on public trust.
Book Hero has over 20,000 novels in store and relies on a payment drop box called the Trust Box, making it the region's first unstaffed bookshop.
All the customers have to do is to just drop their money in the box and be on the way! Amazing, isn't it?
Montserrat Martin, the owner of Book Hero, partnered up with Emirati entrepreneur Mohammed Abdulla Alqubaisi to come up with the idea, believing in customer trust.
"We don't employ staff simply because we trust our customers. I visit the place once a day to replace stock and collect money," Martin told Gulf News.
Commenting on whether someone would steal a book and walk away, Martin added, "Nobody would steal a book and even if someone does it would cost me just 300 dirhams which is nothing compared to what I would spend on hiring staff and paying for overheads like visa and insurance."
Book-lovers will find it very easy to navigate through prices as well. The books will be tagged with green and yellow stickers to indicate their prices, ranging from 10 dirhams to 20 dirhams respectively.
Most of the books on offer are in English and Arabic. However, there is a good amount of French, Russian, Spanish and Chinese books as well, making the store a truly "one-world destination" for bookworms.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
