Started in 1982 as a small shop in Nakuru town, Ereto Bookshop was among the first Kenyan-owned bookshops in Nakuru.

The bookshop was founded by Mr. and Mrs. Emmanuel Masikonde, who passed on in 2021 and 2017 respectively.

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We got to speak to Ereto Bookshops’ manager, Peter Ngare, who took us down memory lane on the ups and downs that the shop has faced.

Ereto Bookshops’ manager Peter Ngare.

Photo credit: MERCY KIHUGU/MTAA WANGU

Ngare reminisces on how the book-selling business was lucrative in the 1980s and '90s, leading to the owners renting a store to keep the stock.

“With business expanding, it led to more customers. We remained at the shop for 13 years until we opened up our building in 1995, where we are currently located,” Ngare says.

He notes that moving to the five-story building was surreal and satisfying, as the shop provided space for walk-in customers, which was a challenge previously.

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However, the introduction of the Free Primary Education in 2003, where the government started supplying books to public schools, threatened to trample on the blossoming book business.

“We had to significantly reduce the number of books supplied to public primary schools. This was a dent to the business."

A second blow came when Covid 19 hit, forcing Ereto to reduce its staff, downscale the business, and close some of the businesses in the building.

“At this point, we had to be innovative if we were to survive the COVID wave. That was when Ereto Bookshop Online Shop was born,” he says.

Inside Ereto bookshop.

Photo credit: MERCY KIHUGU/MTAA WANGU

Ngare reveals that another challenge has been the change of curriculum from 8-4-4 to Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC).

According to him, most publishers revise the editions after a very short time, leading to having dead stock in the store.

However, he appreciates that to avoid stocking the outdated books, some publishers conduct a survey to understand the number of the old edition books, which they take, in exchange of the new editions.

"We have been forced to come into an agreement with most of the publishers, so that we do not suffer losses brought about by the books rendered obsolete," Ngare adds.

Overall, Ereto Bookshop's journey from a small shop to a thriving business has demonstrated resilience in the face of challenges and a commitment to meeting customer needs.

mercykihugu@gmail.com

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Mercy Kihugu