“Book Street” on Chongqing S Road (重慶南路) in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) is gradually evolving, as remaining booksellers specialize and innovate to survive, Book Street Promotion Association chairman Shen Jung-yu (沈榮裕) said yesterday.
“The bookstores that have survived are the strongest,” said Shen, who has operated the street’s Ten Long Book Corp for 38 years.
Previously known as one of the world’s key Chinese-language “book streets,” the number of bookstores on Chongqing S Road has fallen from about 100 to less than 20, with increased competition from online booksellers.
Shen said that the surviving bookstores have all found a unique niche.
While Ten Long now focuses on computer manuals and “simplified character” books imported from China, other stores have focused on areas such as traditional Chinese medicine, civil service exam preparation, food, astrology and Buddhist religious works, he said.
He said that of the remaining stores, the 600 ping (1,983m2) San Min store — which serves as the flagship store for a prominent publisher of entry-level classical Chinese novels — has the most comprehensive collection of books, including many which are unavailable online.
While saying that it was still possible to do good business with a stable customer base and a unique collection of books, Shen also said that revenue from an in-store coffee shop was what had enabled his store to remain profitable over the past four years.
“If you want to survive you have to move with the market,” he said, adding that he intends to open a third store next month which is to be organized around lecture space for independent authors to interact with their fans.
Shen called on the Ministry of Culture and the Taipei City Government’ to help maintain the operation of traditional bookstores by providing rent subsidies and referrals to empty storefronts.
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