Reporter Lu Yanxia
Spring 2023 is coming, how is the survival of physical bookstores in Beijing? What are your new plans for the future? What is the impact of Beijing's brick-and-mortar bookstore support policy? The reporter recently visited a number of bookstores in Beijing and found that the Beijing physical bookstores that have crossed the epidemic are relying on themselves to seek innovation and change and breakthroughs, and have benefited from the support policies of Beijing's physical bookstores, ushering in their own spring.
Xinhua Bookstore Wenyu River Tianyuan Store.
Xinhua News Agency China News Bookstore.
"Small" bookstores looking for breakthroughs
In the process of visiting the bookstores, it is obvious that a group of niche bookstores in Beijing are full of vitality, and they have broken new ground with tenacity and hard work.
Both Spectator Bookstore and Jar Bookstore are in the 798 Art District of Chaoyang District, and the two bookstores have been washed by the market and have lived out their distinctive personalities.
Outside the door of the bookstore, the handwriting board is particularly eye-catching, and then enter the bookstore, the small space is simple and low-key, but there are readers standing everywhere. The books here are all stock books from the publishing house and are of good taste, and they are carefully selected by the bookstore manager Wu Min and her team members with years of experience and keen eyes. "Most of these books have the characteristics of large stock and low discount in the circulation link, which allows us to give full play to the advantages of product selection, and use cash settlement and discount sales to ensure the rapid update of bookstore varieties and smooth cash flow." Wu Min also revealed that last year, the bookstore upgraded its reading space and removed the beverage area to highlight the focus and professionalism of the bookstore. The new bookstore has attracted more readers, and tens of thousands of visitors even visited during the Spring Festival this year.
The jar bookhouse, which is not far from the Spectator Bookstore, also has quite a personality. With art books as the core, the bookstore attracts readers with rich art activities and interactive activities full of warmth. Zhang Xiaoqiang, founder of Jar Book House, said: "Beijing's support policy has allowed us to make more bold investment, and now with the increase of tourists in the park, the sales of art books are also increasing, and we will continue to provide more professional high-quality books and professional value-added services for art and collecting people in the future." ”
Located in the center of the Lama Temple in Hangxing Park, Lama Bookstore is also a niche bookstore featuring autograph books. Founder Peng Mingbang told reporters that since the beginning of this year, the autograph book can sell 2000,5600 copies a month, and at the same time, they are actively expanding their business online, "A small video can sell more than <>,<> yuan of books, which makes people see hope." Peng Mingbang revealed that this year will also explore the operation of community bookstores to realize the leap from niche bookstores to mass bookstores. Everyone is a reader, every family is a reader, and this slogan is the direction we strive to move forward in the future. ”
Kingdee Industrial Park in Shunyi District is fascinated by Planet Book Island.
"New" bookstore New ideas
Some bookstores are not in the bustling city, but they still attract readers to drive tens of kilometers. Like the spring sun, they bring hope to the development of physical bookstores. During the visit, two new bookstores focusing on children's reading attracted particular attention.
Located in Miyun Blue Mountain Cultural Park, Le Dance Music Reading takes art, children's literature, classic Chinese and foreign picture books as the main books, and the comfortable reading area is filled with the mellow aroma of coffee, which brings a comfortable atmosphere to reading. Pan Xiaolong, the owner of the bookstore, said that before opening the bookstore, he worked in a dance training institution for four years and had nearly 4,<> students. He opened a bookstore to accompany everyone through reading to enhance their comprehensive cultural literacy.
This bookstore does have a lot of new ideas. The bookstore has a storage station, the child is about to celebrate his birthday, parents can choose a book to store in the storage station, and when the child comes to the bookstore again, the book will become a birthday gift full of surprises. Not only that, Pan Xiaolong also disassembled each picture book, recorded his own voice, interpreted the content of the book in the form of music and dance, and created his own unique brand.
Located in the Golden Dee Industrial Park in Shunyi District, the fascinating planet book island is also a beautiful existence, the floor-to-ceiling windows on the whole side, combined with the outdoor environment, sunlight, water system, green plants, creating an atmosphere close to nature, wooden bookshelves with more than three meters on both sides, but also let the book air suddenly overflow the entire space.
It is a "book island" with the theme of space and planets, covering an area of 870 square meters. In order to create an immersive reading experience, Julie, founder of Fascination Planet Book Island, divided the bookstore into a car science theme house, a Harry Potter theme house and a natural science reading house according to the age of children, with more than ten spaces. Among them, the Harry Potter Theme House houses all editions of Harry Potter books, including encyclopedias, movie pictorials, as well as English originals and some of the latest editions of reading lists. "Children and parents want to have a comfortable reading space, so we combine the advantages of space environment and resources to create an immersive reading experience space for them." Julie said.
Yonghe Shuting in the Yonghe Palace One Center.
The "old" bookstore starts again
This spring, the "old" bookstore, which is full of years of precipitation, shows a new attitude of keen exploration and continuous progress, showing the infinite vitality of Beijing's physical bookstores.
"Parent-child Picture Book Story Salon - "Spring Equinox Picking Spring Tea" Picture Book Handicraft Activity will be held this weekend at Wenyu River Tianyuan Store of Shunyi Xinhua Bookstore. Shunyi Xinhua Bookstore, which has a history of 76 years, opened this bookstore in 2022.
Located in Wenyu River Park, the "green lung" of Beijing, the bookstore is a relaxing place to relax with the natural beauty of the natural beauty outside the window and the wood tones inside. Since the opening of this bookstore, with its rich book categories and characteristic products, it has been listed on the list of "Internet celebrities" in the Beijing reading space category, and "glass curtain wall", "Little Bear Milk Tea" and "Wenyu River Sunrise" have become "Internet celebrities" in the hearts of readers. Zhang Xiumei, general manager of Shunyi Xinhua Bookstore Co., Ltd., said that the bookstore will be committed to creating a comprehensive bookstore integrating reading, activities, light meals and other multi-functional spaces, so that readers can enjoy a good life "inside and outside the book".
China News Bookstore is also an old bookstore with a history of nearly 40 years, and the history of Xinhua News Agency is precipitated in every part of the bookstore, giving this bookstore a unique red gene. Yang Jing, general manager of China News Bookstore, revealed that this year, the trend of bookstores continues to improve, Xinhua News Agency has vacated two more houses for bookstores, plus the original more than 300 square meters, the entire bookstore will reach 500 square meters. "At that time, we will combine Xinhua's historical display with books to bring readers a new experience." In addition, a street reading park will be built outside the bookstore, which is currently in active operation. "We receive subsidies from Beijing every year, which solves great difficulties." Yang Jing said that with this support, the bookstore dares to make new attempts and explorations.
Located in Peony Science and Technology Park, Haidian District, the bookstore on the other side has a history of 15 years, music, flowing water, books, and different and large study rooms hidden behind books, making this old bookstore full of strong humanistic color. Zhao Yuechao, the manager of the bookstore, told reporters the good news, "We focus 90% of our energy on books, tea is selling well, there are more activities, and the success rate of negotiating contracts in bookstores is also very high." He said that if the story of the book is told thoroughly, the bookstore can live better.
Zhao Yuechao sighed that the bookstore has come all the way can be described as "nine dead lives": "We have received government subsidies from physical bookstores since 2018, and we have persevered all the way, and the business began to be particularly good after the Spring Festival this year." It is worth mentioning that in order to tell the story of the book thoroughly, this old bookstore began to play with installation art, so that every good book can gain new life with artistic expression.
"The installation in front of me is actually to better sell the Argentine writer Borgesco's fantasy novel 'Garden with Forked Paths'. At the end of the story, time and space are reversed, and we deliberately messed it up. At the same time, I put "Parallel Universe" here. Zhao Yuechao said that such installation art aroused the curiosity of readers, and the 40 copies of "Garden with Bifurcating Paths" on the shelves were sold out in one go.