Ballari newspaper vendor’s self-service counter operates on decades of customer trust.
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The counter, he said, also caters to readers who switch between publications. Our sale includes TOI, Economic Times too,” he said. Despite provision and medical store businesses, people still recognise us as newspaper vendors, and this business is our bread of life,” Veeresh said.
BALLARI: With Newspaper Vendors’ Day set to be celebrated in Karnataka Friday, a modest newspaper counter in Ballari offers a reminder of a bond that has endured for decades: trust. At Veeresh General Store, a familiar landmark in the city for nearly five decades, customers routinely pick up a newspaper and leave the money behind, often without the owner being present. “Our stall has also been useful for readers who often change their loyalty towards newspapers. We have maintained ethics in the business of supplying copies as per the requirement of readers. We never bowed to higher commission and gifts by publications. Currently Vijay Karnataka, a Kannada daily, is at the highest sale. Even when no one is at the counter, customers continue to pick up newspapers and make payments on their own. “Our counter sale, in the absence of us, continues as usual. It turned popular again during the Covid pandemic as there was no direct human intervention. Our duty starts at 3am and ends at 9am. Later, we had two medical stores. He also recalled being among the first newspaper vendors in the area to shift from bicycle deliveries. Download the TOI App.
They buy one newspaper today and another tomorrow.
And, according to owner Itagimathad Veeresh, 65, no reader has cheated him in all these years. Some customers take it on a credit basis for 4-5 years too. Average number of buyers buying newspaper is 30 per day,” Veeresh told TOI. The story dates back to 1977, when Veeresh’s father, Itagimathad Gangadharayya, started newspaper distribution. The family was already running a provision store, which they opened in 1969. Veeresh joined the business in 1980 after completing class 10 and began delivering newspapers to subscribers’ doorsteps. “He delivered copies at the doorsteps of subscribers till the age of 86 years on his bicycle. When the price of a Kannada newspaper was 12 paise, we were getting commission of three paise,” Veeresh recalled.
The self-service system, introduced decades ago, still functions much as it always has. “Sometimes, customers pay less and make up the balance the next day. Many take on a credit basis for a week. He only started keeping copies on a counter and directed self-service among stand-sale customers. Some customers were buying Kannada newspapers to see the results of matka gambling, which was famous as OC [open and close] in the state.