A girl tries her fingers at a chess-like board game designed to develop children's intelligence, at an Eslite bookstore in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. (Photo/China Daily)
Many retailers of books reinvent business models to survive and thrive in spite of competition online
Every Saturday, accountant Liu Xincheng, 28, makes special efforts to reach the SiSYPHE bookstore in central Shanghai's Joy City, a commercial complex, earlier than other customers.
"You have to arrive there early in order to secure a (good) place to read or a seat in the cafe within the bookstore. After 1 pm, the entire place is fully occupied, and you have to line up for a seat, for browsing a shelf, and to pay at the counter," said Liu.
The bookstore is divided into three main sections: books area, cultural area and creative products area. In addition, there is a coffee area and a "public study" area for many young readers such as Liu.
"I even bring my date here. We don't talk much because everyone is reading, and each of us just reads the books we pick. But we don't have to buy. It feels good when you can relax, have some quality time, read something and learn something. It does not cost much," he said.
SiSYPHE is one of the scores of branded bookstore chains in China that has been trying to balance the need to be profitable with the urge to provide a book reader-/buyer-friendly environment.
Rents at prime commercial properties have been soaring so much in key cities that many bookstores had to close down. The survivors are juggling costs and benefits, trying to offer more products and services to supplement the high cost of, and low profits from, selling books.
