The Eslite Spectrum Songyan (松菸誠品) location has been tapped to expand to a 24-hour service to replace the popular all-night Xinyi District (信義) outlet after it closes, Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活) said yesterday.
The company operates the prominent Eslite bookstore chain, department stores and leisure lifestyle service in Taiwan and abroad.
Uni-President Group, the largest of the seven landlords of the Xinyi store, was the holdout in refusing to renew the lease, which expires at the end of this year.
Photo: CNA
Eslite Spectrum chairwoman Mercy Wu (吳旻潔) announced the new 24-hour location at a news conference.
“As long as I live and run Eslite, there will always be a 24-hour bookstore in Taiwan,” Wu said.
The Xinyi branch took over the 24-hour operation in the spring of 2020 after the landmark Dunhua outlet in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) was closed after the building was marked for an urban renewal venture.
Wu said she favored the Songyan venue over other locations given its capacity, after renovation, to house restaurants, exhibitions, performances and other events, along with a wider selection of books.
Furthermore, the Songyan location is close to the company’s Eslite Hotel (誠品行旅) and within the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區), providing benefits from tourism and cross-selling, Wu said.
Songshan Cultural and Creative Park Director Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said the mall is close to multiple locations that could benefit from a 24-hour bookstore, including the Taipei Dome, cinemas, hotels and the city-designated historical site in which the mall is located.
The Songyan branch last year held trial runs of after-hours operations, although a date for its official extension of hours has yet to be decided, the company said.
The bookstore chain was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and is seeking to break even this year, Wu said.
“We used the time during the pandemic to develop ways to improve market share, and it is time to see if the strategies can pay off,” Wu said.
The department store business is scheduled to open a new Eslite Spectrum branch in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) next quarter, which is to feature 19,000 ping (62,700m2) of floor space, making it the company’s largest outlet, Wu said.
More than 250 retailers, food stores and leisure facilities are to be featured in the box-shaped complex, Wu said.
The company is striving to ensure that it does not look like an average shopping mall, she added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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