ZH Riyaz opened Thrift Distribution and Books, Abu Dhabi's only secondhand bookshop in 2008. Chris Whiteoak / The National
There are now 50,000 books in the store. Complete sets of the Encyclopaedia Britannica sit alongside travel guides, children’s books, collections of poetry and novels by John Cheever, Martin Amis and Jeffrey Eugenides. All tastes are catered for. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Trade was sluggish at first, and Riyaz only had one member of staff to help him run the shop. Nevertheless, the number of books he owned continued to increase month on month, in part because Riyaz could never help himself from buying more and more books from online marketplace Dubizzle, but also because contributions began to pour in from expats who were leaving the UAE. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Riyaz’s collection is now so large – he has more than 150,000 books – that last year he was able to open a second Thrift Distribution and Books Trading in Dubai. He also plans to open a cafe with a free library at the Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre in Abu Dhabi. Chris Whiteoak / The National
It is a remarkable success story, particularly so in an era when many predicted that the rise of websites such as Amazon, as well as the popularity of e-books, would put traditional booksellers out of business. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Customers come from all over the world – India, the Philippines, England, Eastern Europe and the United States – drawn together by the opportunity to browse in peace, a few precious minutes away from the hubbub of Abu Dhabi’s busy streets. Chris Whiteoak / The National
The glass windows are smudged, the yellow “Pull” sticker on the door is peeling away, and the neon sign somehow looks a little short of breath. Chris Whiteoak / The National
And the most popular authors? You guessed it: Danielle Steel, Sidney Sheldon and Dan Brown. Harder to shift are the text books and computer manuals. Chris Whiteoak / The National
