Braving the Storm: How UAE-Based Bookends' Grace Karim and Somia Anwar Turned a Final Page Into a New Chapter

Entrepreneur

3 days ago

A little over a year ago, in the aftermath of the most devastating rains the UAE has witnessed, UAE-based Bookends saw 14,000 of its books get destroyed. To the co-founders themselves, the extent of the damage felt like a point of no return. But against all odds, here's how the little bookstore trudged on and emerged stronger than ever.
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Sitting across Grace Chaoul Karim, the co-founder of UAE-based Bookends –and online and physical marketplace for used and "pre-loved" books– in a dimly lit, cosy nook of the bookstore located in Dubai Silicon Oasis, there is a sense of tranquility that one can perhaps find only in spaces filled with novels and stories. But sitting right in the middle of the short wall that separates Karim and I is a framed photograph– it is one where she and her co-founder Somia Anwar are facing a mountainous pile of books drenched in water; all placed haphazardly among one another. That moment was photographed in April 2024, when Dubai experienced its heaviest rainfall in 75 years, and it would later be revealed that a devastating 14,000 destroyed books made up that pile. "I was standing with Somia over there and wondering, 'Oh, my God, what are we going to do?' and then Abby, one of our team members who was behind us, said, 'Ladies, sit down. I want to take a picture,'" Karim recalls. "But I didn't imagine it would come out so expressively like that. I love it. I get goosebumps every time I see it. Because when I look at this picture, it makes me think of how our lowest moment was a lesson towards resilience. When I look back at it, I know we built resilience from that. Because to stand up again is not an easy task. At that time, our inventory was about 30,000 books. So almost half our inventory was gone. But we felt we have a responsibility towards our community, you know, and so we had to stand up again. So I'm in love with this picture because it speaks a thousand words."
That spontaneous decision to showcase a moment of intense vulnerability, and their internal commitment to rebuild for the sake of the community they'd built thus far, culminated into an outcome neither Karim nor Anwar even mildly expected. "When we put up an announcement on our social media that we are closed, you cannot imagine…the phone never stopped, and the messages on Instagram were unending!" Karim explains. "We constantly got messages saying 'Guys, how can we help you? We are here for you. We want you to stand up again.' And I remember telling Somia how can we consider closing if this is our impact on people? We had to stand up no matter what. We had sellers telling us not to worry about their payment balance, and also telling us to use all of it to get back on our feet again. And even here, at the store, when we were taking the rainwater out from inside, we had strangers who came to help us and look after us. It was only then that we realized that our impact is huge. You know, readers…our community is beautiful. This is something I always talk about. If there is something I love about the business, it's connecting with the people."
In April 2024, in the aftermath of Dubai's heaviest rainfall in 75 years, Bookends faced a severe tragedy: more than 14,000 of its books were destroyed. Image courtesy Bookends
Here, Karim reveals that although Bookends hasn't gotten its operations back to optimal levels, the support it's received has been just enough to keep the store up and running again. "Those new shiny shelves you see now were replaced only in December, because even up until then things were quite tough," she adds. "Imagine, our loss was around AED200,000 during those floods, when we'd started Bookends with all of just AED25,000."
Indeed, the initial capital Karim refers to is the amount she and her co-founder received when the pair participated in a Startup Weekend event staged at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) in 2019, where they won third place and received a grant of AED25,000 to launch their business. But the seeds of inspiration behind Bookends had been sown much before this competition– in 2016 to be precise.
"Grace and I are friends to begin with," shares Anwar via email. "So our kids used to be in the same class, and we'd often meet across different events like birthday parties, coffee mornings, mom get-togethers and so on. And every time we met, we would discuss how expensive books are. So around 2016, we started a pilot– we started collecting books from friends, other moms, and even through school fairs. Grace even went to different economic departments in Sharjah, Ajman and Dubai and our idea at the time was to do a mobile bookstore. But we soon found out that the ecosystem did not even have that category in their system; they did not understand our concept back then. But now you can see how food trucks are everywhere, right? So we decided that while this idea may not be feasible, we could instead consider having a shop. We did a small study and found out something interesting: the idea was never going to make us any money! The plan we had back then wouldn't have even covered the cost of running a store, so we decided that this isn't something we want to continue with."
Grace Chaoul Karim, co-founder, Bookends. Image courtesy Bookends
But all that changed when the aforementioned competition by Sheraa came Anwar and Karim's way in 2019. "The premise was that Sheraa was on the lookout for book-related ideas which are tech enabled, and so we said 'Why not present Bookends as an online platform?" recalls Karim, "At that time obviously we were not entrepreneurs, we were not business people, nothing. I remember I was driving my kids to school at seven o'clock in the morning and Somia called me to say that we had to present a one-minute pitch that day, to which I said "What is a pitch?" That was how little I knew about entrepreneurship! I was also so worried about how much we could talk in one minute, you know? But now I believe there is a lot that you can say in that one minute. Anyway we pitched the idea on a Thursday, and by Saturday we were shortlisted. There were more than a hundred ideas, they shortlisted 15 and Bookends was one of them!"
Having thus got their first taste of what it takes to run a business that weekend in November 2019 –including being introduced to concepts like minimum viable product, business plans, and marketing– the duo's plunge into entrepreneurship was thus sealed through their third-place win. "That was when reality hit us," Anwar says. "The first strike of reality was when we realized 'Oh my God, our idea is good; it is validated!" The second moment of realization was where we realized that this idea wasn't just talk anymore–we had to get serious. So that was the beginning."
With the AED25,000 bagged through the contest, Bookends was officially launched in January 2020 out of one of the rooms in Anwar's house, with the brand's website serving as the main medium of buying and selling used books. But less than two months later, in March 2020, the world went into social lockdown because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. "My first thought when that happened was 'Oh my God, we've barely begun the business!'" recalls Karim. "Plus, at the time it was just Somia and me running Bookends. We were entering books into the system, we were fulfilling orders and running operations, Somia was running the ads on Instagram and Facebook…we were doing all of it by ourselves. So the lockdown felt like a huge, huge challenge to overcome."
But as is often the case with seemingly perilous situations, a sliver of hope emerged. "What we found was that people were very tired of constantly using screens at home and just wanted an escape– and that escape was through books," Karim explains. "So the business actually started growing, and we had the comfort of running it from my house. You know, for someone like me whose childhood was the civil war in Lebanon, even though the pandemic brought its challenges, I was grateful and counted my blessings. Despite the lockdown, my children could still continue their schooling online, and it reminded me of how there were days I would go to school and not know if I was going to be able to continue my day; if I was going to be back home safe. I remember there were two school years that we did in just a few months in summer. So with everything happening with Bookends, instead of looking at the empty half of the cup, I was looking at the full half of the cup, you know? I took advantage of being in a situation like that and we just kept moving forward."
Somia Anwar, co-founder, Bookends. Image courtesy Bookends
The resilience shown during those initial few months of launching the business resulted in Bookends' successful growth– both as a business and as a haven of book lovers. Along the way, an additional AED25,000 won through a startup competition hosted by Bank of Sharjah, as well as a COVID-19 grant of US$10,000 offered by Sheraa, helped the business stay afloat. "Eventually the inventory of books we had got too big to run out of Grace's house, so we decided to rent out a two bedroom apartment which worked both as an office and storage space for us," Anwar explains through her written responses. "Like I mentioned earlier, the pilot test we'd done had shown us that running an actual bookstore wouldn't be profitable for us. More importantly, we didn't want to compromise on the prices– books are the only revenue stream for us, but raising their prices would have rendered our business model meaningless. So we were never considering opening a physical store."
That staunch stance however melted away when, following an ease in social distancing restrictions in mid-2022, Bookends' customers themselves started to express a keen demand for a physical store. "We kept getting constant messages, especially in the second half of 2022, with customers saying they wanted to actually actually touch and smell these books instead of just checking them online," Karim shares. "At the same time, the flat we were operating out of became too small for us, because by then we had 20,000 books on our platform. So I told Somia, 'I think it's time to consider opening a store.' Of course, shifting 20,000 books that have to be in a specific sequence was not going to be an easy job to do. So after searching different locations, we came here, to Silicon Oasis, in July 2023 and found that they were accommodating. So we have at the moment four spaces here— three of them are used as storage facilities and an office, and the fourth is the main bookstore for walk-in customers."
The launch of a physical location –completely bootstrapped using the co-founders' own savings– opened doors for Bookends to widen its community impact in more ways than one. In February 2024, the brand was able to set up an unmanned shelf of books at Radisson RED Dubai Silicon Oasis, a hotel located just a few feet away from the bookstore. "When we collaborate with hotels and cafes across the UAE, we essentially just have the prices at the back of the books we offer, and each of them has a unique QR code," Karim explains. "So if your customers are waiting to be served, for example, they are exposed to different types of literature. They can simply take a book that they like, scan the QR code and buy the book. So it's based on honesty really, and we believe that readers will respect the book and will pay for the book. And if you have any one stealing these books, well, those people are simply not interested in actually reading a book. For us, it is about spreading the love of reading and also increasing the exposure to different literature, across the country."
But just as things started to look up for the bookstore, Karim and Anwar were faced with the biggest challenge of their entrepreneurial journey yet– the April 2024 rains mentioned right in the beginning of this feature. "The store wasn't even a full year old yet at the time, and in fact, I remember we used to have conversations about how we should celebrate our first anniversary– but then the April floods happened…," Karim says. "In literally less than 12 hours, we were submerged. And I couldn't have imagined how awful it would be; not until the next day when I came and I saw the amount of water. It was so much that we were not allowed to step into the store for four days. Plus no electricity! So just imagine how awful the situation was. That was when we thought, 'This is it. This is our end, Finished.' Because, really, there was no way we could have stood up again. Every penny Somia and I had was in that shop, and at the time we were still paying from our own pocket. Because, you know, opening the store…we had to increase the number of books on our shelves, we had to increase our manpower as well. So our expenses increased along the way. But we kept believing that with time, and with people knowing us more, they would buy more books and the store would keep growing. 'We will get there, but we need to be patient,' is what we used to tell ourselves. But before any of that, this happens? We considered closing for good."
Bookends' unmanned community bookshelf at Radisson RED in Dubai Silicon Oasis, which began in February 2024, offers 1,000 pre-loved books on an honor system, promoting trust and sustainability. Image courtesy Bookends
"But we didn't realize how great a community we had built until we faced this huge challenge that took us back to zero," Karim continues.
Indeed, the very community whose pleas had led to the physical bookstore being opened in the first place was first in line to offer support in helping put back Bookends little by little. Help also came through the tightknit team Karim and Anwar had built at the store. "Obviously, eventually the shop opened up again, but we couldn't make any sale and we still had to pay our employees salaries. But it was them who helped us to stand back on our feet. Having a good team around you is amazing– they're happy in your happiness and celebrate together, and when things get rough, we cry together. It's amazing. They were here from morning until late at night just to see the business up again. And those shelves, you see? They were changed only in December last year. Because we couldn't do it up until then. Somia and I also didn't want to take loans to rebuild the business. So again, it was a matter of taking it step by step. And honestly that photo…it always brings back different memories. For example, on that Sunday after the floods, we had to clear all the books from the stock online. Because although they were still virtually available on the site, physically they were not available anymore at the store. But again, when we had to remove them, we had our own customers come in and help us. People brought their own tools, we gave them gloves, and together we started clearing everything. Those eventually ended up becoming that pile you see in the photo. And it was during that time I realized how beautiful our community is. It didn't matter how old you are, or where someone was from, or even if you are a book lover or not– people came from all over the place just to help us out. It was really heartwarming."
In the little over a year since that tragedy, Karim and Anwar have been able to build the store back to a position of stability. "At the moment we're selling somewhere from 2,000 to 3,000 books per month, on an average, but we need to sell 5,000 books to be fully profitable," Karim honestly reveals. "But we'll get there!"
In a pleasant revelation, between the time this interview with Karim took place and the feature was written, it was announced that a second Bookends store was finally opening– this time in Abu Dhabi, at the Baniyas Coop Society, a UAE-based retail and shopping complex. And at the heart of this expansion continues to be the phrase that Karim says was intentionally chosen to be associated with the brand: pre-loved books. "When you say 'used books,' the perception is that it's dirty or ugly, and that it's not to be used again, you know?" she says. "But when you say pre-loved, you are highlighting that there is a story behind that book you're holding. And you'd be surprised at just how many people look for books with annotations, or highlights, and that's because they want to connect with the previous reader. It makes them wonder, 'Why did they highlight that sentence,' for example? Of course, at the same time, you have people who don't like to have anything of the sort, so we have books that cater to their preferences too. But that 'pre-loved' name came from that concept– that it is a book that has been taken care of. And as you can see around, our books are as good as new!"
Here, Karim points out that the sustainability impact of such a model cannot be underestimated. "When we encourage people to use the same book, imagine how many trees we are indirectly saving and how many books are being saved from being in the landfill," she explains. "You know, people think that by throwing away just two or three books, the environmental impact is not that much. But those two or three books, if you're talking about 10 million people, imagine how many books we are throwing in that landfill! So why not give them the chance to be rehomed, find a new shelf, and a new reader? The same book can have a second home, a third home, and so on until it is ready for recycling. At Bookends, we make it a point to not send any books to the landfill. The books that are no longer able to be rehomed, they go for recycling. So, this is one of the main purposes of our store."
Image courtesy Bookends
Amid the efforts to put back the store at Silicon Oasis, keeping their partnerships with hotels and other public spaces running, and opening a new store, Bookends' co-founding duo also found themselves invited to pitch at Shark Tank Dubai. That journey, however, did not end in the way Karim and Anwar would've liked– but as has been typical of the duo throughout their entrepreneurial journey, they viewed this rejection too with a glass half full mindset. "It was a very big learning journey that we went through because I didn't really consider that they would not believe in our business," Karim says. "Of course I wanted each one of them [the judges] to be a part of our brand, so when all of them said 'no,' I was shocked initially. However, the Sharks are right as well because they're looking for something that is making money very fast. With us, you need patience. So I put myself in their shoes. At the same time, because our operation cost is low, you can increase your revenues with whatever your setup is. So there is a potential of making a good amount of money but it needs patience."
She adds with a wry smile, "I just figured it was maybe it was too early for us to get into the show. But I don't regret it. It was a good experience to do a pitch being in front of the camera. And it's okay they didn't believe in our business; someone else might. Maybe it's not today. Maybe it's not this year. But it doesn't mean we will stop there. We will continue. 100%."
At this point, stemming more from personal curiosity than anything else, I ask Karim if there's been any fictional character or story she's read that has offered her solace, and the ability to build such resilience and empathy, over the years. "Honestly speaking, no," she says. "But the books themselves, they were a great escape for me. Like when we were in the shelter [during the civil war in Lebanon], when we had bombs flying over our heads and everyone was just sitting around, I would be reading. I read in Arabic and French mainly when I was a little girl. Now I read in three languages. But I don't have an attachment to a specific character. I read everything, you know? But my most favorite book ever –one that really made my mind shift– is 'Start With Why' by Simon Sinek. But as a fiction, no, I don't have anything specific. I just read a lot of different stuff because I truly love reading."
It is this love for books that Karim and her co-founder Anwar now hope to continue to spread throughout the UAE and beyond. "My vision is that when you think of a book, think Bookends first," Karim declares. "You know we want to be on every shelf of readers in the UAE. And after we are well known in the UAE, we want to go to the GCC countries. So our mission is to encourage more reading. So we want to have Bookends present in every home, every shelf. And we want people to go back to reading. Now with the fast pace of our life, people are losing their me-time. You cannot have your own time without being interrupted in any way. But if you are reading an actual book, you are forced to put your phone away. When you're reading an actual book, you're not going to have a phone call, or get a WhatsApp message, or some random notification popping out. So you're going to enjoy your time and this is ultimately what we want people to have. To enjoy their time with books."
"At this point, I don't feel Bookends is Somia and Grace anymore," Karim says on an ending note. "Bookends is about Nora and Abby and Joy. Bookends is about the sellers, the customers. It's not just us anymore, you know? It's a community, and this is what I love about it. And this is why we keep going."