Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活), which operates the popular Eslite (誠品書局) bookstore chain in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, yesterday said it would open a retail outlet in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi next fall, its first presence in a non-Chinese market.
“We are excited that a Taiwanese brand can be presented in Japan, a country known for its high-quality service sector,” Eslite Spectrum chairwoman Mercy Wu (吳旻潔) said.
The store is to occupy about 2,970m2 on the second floor of a building that is close to Tokyo Station, Wu said.
Photo: Chang Hui-wen, Taipei Times
The developer of the building has been working with the Japanese government and private sector to revive Nihonbashi since the late 1990s through construction projects that integrate new businesses with traditional culture.
Due to language and cultural differences, Eslite Spectrum is to license the century-old Japanese bookstore Yurindo Co to operate the store, Wu said.
While Eslite Spectrum is to determine the tone of the store’s presentation, Yurindo is to work with local publishers and suggest Japanese-language book selections, Yurindo senior managing director Rentaro Matsunobu said.
The outlet would include a bookstore, craft store and dining area, and combine Taiwanese and Japanese elements, Wu said.
Eslite Spectrum opened its first store in Taiwan in 1989 and currently operates 46 stores: 42 in Taiwan, three in Hong Kong and one in Suzhou, China.
It has evolved from a bookstore chain into a fusion retail model that combines bookstores, shopping malls and a cultural-creative platform.
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