Established in 1975, the oldest book store in Ukhrul “Iwui Book Store” has completed 50 years of service.
WS. Ibotombi and his wife Haoreila opened the first book store at Ukhrul in 1975 at Tangrei, Ukhrul. It later shifted to Wino Bazaar in 1980 and opened its second outlet at Viewland in 2015.
Late WS. Ibotombi was a teacher by profession. He was posted at Frontier High School in 1969 at New Tusom, Ukhrul District, Manipur. He took a voluntary retirement and established the Iwui Book Store. Haoreila recalled the struggle she and her husband faced during the initial stage. “Business was minimal due to few schools and there was great difficulty in transportation of goods due to poor transportation service during that time” stated Haoreila Their shops were gutted completely in the infamous “Wino Inferno” in 2009. They rebuilt from the scratch and today they have opened two outlets in Ukhrul Headquarters. The outlet at Wino Bazaar is run by their son Worthem and the one at Viewland is run by Hillson. Their goods are mainly sourced from Kolkata and Gauhati.
Iwui Book Store has come a long way providing the much needed service to the people of Ukhrul. All kinds of school books, reference books, general books and all kinds of stationery items are available in their shops.
