A landmark in Holland Village for about 80 years, Thambi Magazine Store has been featured numerous times in the mass media.
Now it has won an award from the global affairs and lifestyle publication Monocle, an honour highly prized by Mr P. Senthilmurugan, who operates the store with family members.
He said: “Being recognised as Asia’s top print media outlet is the highest honour we have received, and it is acknowledgement of our commitment to our customers.”
Mr Senthilmurugan is commonly known as Sam, a name his regular customers gave him.
Sam’s late grandfather P. Govindasamy was distributing newspapers in the area way back in the 1940s.
Sam’s father G. Periathambi then started the shop. It sold sweets, all sorts of knick-knacks and newspapers.
British servicemen and their families living in the area asked for magazines from their homeland, and the business grew steadily.
Sam said that in the 1990s the store offered about 7,000 titles, ranging from British newspapers and Beano comics to international news magazines. Today, the selection comprises about 1,000 magazines.
When his father was taken ill, Sam – as the eldest son – took over the business. For starters, he renamed it Thambi Magazine Store in honour of his father.
Asked about the future of magazines in this digital era, Sam is optimistic and pointed out: “It’s a niche business and magazines have evolved from monthly issues on a variety of subjects to featuring one or two very topical cover stories.
“Unlike social media with their brief outlines, these cover stories are well-researched and very informative.”
Sam also sees a lot of promise in the upcoming One Holland Village development which features residential and commercial components, as well as community spaces.
He said: “This will inject more vitality in this area and there will be many new residents. It will be good for Holland Village, and what is good for the village, is good for my business.”
One Holland Village Shops is expected to open by the end of this year, while One Holland Village Residences is targeted for completion by end-2024.
For the time being, Sam is trying to trim his overheads especially since a sub-tenant moved out in June this year. Luckily, Sam was able to rent the excess space to a little takeaway cafe soon after.
He said: “The cafe complements the magazine business and I also get to enjoy a cup of coffee now and then.”
