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Up to 75% discount on books in Dubai: How did Big Bad Wolf get its name?

Founders Andrew Yap and his wife Jacqueline Ng initially struggled to sell books until they came up with an idea and picked the name from a classic children's book

Published: Wed 5 Apr 2023, 10:42 AM

Updated: Wed 5 Apr 2023, 3:39 PM

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The Big Bad Wolf (BBW), the world's biggest book sale, is back in Dubai. The sale will run from April 7-16 at the Sound Stage in Dubai Studio City, offering discounts of up to 75% on over 1 million books, with some titles starting from as low as Dh2. The sale begins at 9am and continues till the wee hours of 2am.

The big sale began in Malaysia in 2009 when Andrew Yap and his wife Jacqueline Ng got into the business of selling books. Struggling to sell books to a population of which only 2% read books, the couple decided to hold a big book sale event. The rest, as they say, is history.

But how did Big Bad Wolf get its name? To appeal to their main target market, children, they chose the character of the Big Bad Wolf from the story of Little Red Riding Hood, hoping to introduce the character to a new generation.

“Our main target market is children,” said Andrew Yap. “We wanted a character that would appeal to them - a character that is classic. We realised that most of the people in our generation knew the Big Bad Wolf from the story Little Red Riding Hood. However, a lot of young children didn’t know the character. So we wanted to introduce it to them. Also, I feel like we always remember the villains or bad characters of the story more than the heroes."

Jacqueline Ng added, “We also did not have any budget to advertise and promote. So we decided to use a cheeky name that would also be memorable. And this fit the bill.”

This year the sale will have several new features, according to the organisers. Now that the company has a local warehouse, there will be bigger and better discounts.

20% of the sale space will be reserved for local publishers and more Arabic titles will be available. Customers can participate in a social media 'Book Haul' contest by uploading an image or video with the hashtag #BBWDUBAI for a chance to win a trolley full of books.

New things at the sale

  • Unbelievable section- Massive discounts on select books with prices starting from Dh2
  • Vouchers- For the first time vouchers will be available to purchase
  • Layout- The look and feel of the hall will be different with books being displayed in an elevated format

Tips for Shoppers

  • Wear comfortable shoes and clothes
  • Set aside at least two or three hours for the visit
  • Bring trolley bags so that the books can be transported easily
  • Food and beverage vendors will be available onsite

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