Every Wednesday is the open day of Xinhua Nangong Bookstore in the provincial capital.
On November 22, the reporter used the reservation QR code to visit the first membership-based bookstore in the province. Not long after I walked in, I heard an uncle asking the staff how to make an appointment, how to apply for membership, etc. The old man’s name is Wang Younian and he lives nearby. He said: “The first thing I feel about this bookstore is that it is beautiful, bright, and plays slow music, which is very suitable for reading quietly.”
The Taiyuan Workers' Cultural Palace is the only intact Soviet-style building in the provincial capital. Arches built with light strips inside the bookstore separate book categories, creating a distinct sense of time and space. A main road runs through the entire bookstore, and the bookshelves placed on both sides are divided into reading spaces one after another next to the window sill, providing both privacy and brightness. It is understood that Xinhua Nangong Bookstore has 80,000 books, which are divided into 13 categories according to reading ideas, including Party Building Study Room, Popular Science World, and Art Walk. Lian Yi, manager of Xinhua Nangong Bookstore, said: "The membership system is intended to provide a better reading environment for people who like to read. After making a reservation in advance, you can have your own independent reading space."
Compared with the membership system, more bookstores have chosen to increase consumption items and create a comprehensive reading and consumption space. The 15 stores under Taiyuan Xinhua Bookstore have gradually transformed from traditional bookstores into new reading spaces. At the same time, they have opened Jinyang Lake City Study, Yingze City Study, and Wenying City Study, and have received more than 500,000 readers since their opening.
Arriving at the Sisyphus Bookstore in Longhu Wanda Plaza in the provincial capital, as soon as they entered the door, the reporter saw the booth full of "2024 Cherishing Blessings Experience", which is a cultural and creative product produced by Sisyphus. "Every day, one question, one book excerpt" "The format fits the theme of reading very well. Currently, cultural and creative products account for an increasing share of physical bookstores. In Sisyphus, there is a dazzling array of stationery, notepads, building blocks, music boxes and other products, and there are several shelves of bookshelves arranged with ingenuity.
At the same time, the consumption of coffee, fruit tea and other beverages is also an important part of Sisyphus Bookstore’s income structure. The reporter saw that when many consumers came to Sisyphus Bookstore, they would pick one or two of their favorite books, bring them to the beverage area, sit on the comfortable sofa, drink coffee and read at the same time.
"Bookstores are increasingly becoming a consumption space that optimizes the reading environment." said Kang, the manager of Sisyphus Bookstore. "Although it is located in a busy shopping mall, the bookstore has tens of thousands of books placed in the surrounding display shelves. It allows readers to quickly enter a quiet and focused reading state, and the comfortable seats and continuously optimized catering products allow readers to enjoy an emotional reading atmosphere. This is why Sisyphus Bookstore can continue to operate in shopping malls for a long time. reason."
Nowadays, more and more consumers are buying books online, and they have put forward new requirements for the functions of bookstores. The reading and consumption space created by bookstores is gradually becoming a new business trend.
Books should still be the protagonists of bookstores
"Buying books online is much cheaper than in physical bookstores. E-commerce platforms such as Dangdang and JD.com often launch promotions, and basically all the books I want to buy are available. I make a book list in advance and can buy it in one stop." Liu Chang, a third-year graduate student, said, “Usually when I go to a bookstore, I invite friends to have a drink, read, and enjoy the reading environment of the bookstore.”
Thinking of bookstores as a social environment may not be Liu Chang's idea alone. In recent years, "Internet celebrity" bookstores are becoming consumers' new favorites. But when the bookstore becomes a fragmented consumption place for chatting, dining and even taking photos and checking in, and its unique culture is gradually eliminated, are books still the protagonist of the bookstore?
On the afternoon of November 28, the reporter came to Jinxiu Bookstore next to Maoye Tiandi Shopping Center in Xiaodian District, the provincial capital. This is a bookstore invested and constructed by Jindi Urban Operation Group, an enterprise directly under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Taiyuan City. It integrates reading, purchasing, and Cultural activities, catering and cultural creation are integrated into one. "Nowadays, new business formats are emerging one after another, and bookstores are adding new consumer items. There is a heated discussion in the industry about 'bookstore+' or '+bookstore'. Every bookstore owner has his or her own opinion, but I think the protagonist of the bookstore should also be It’s books.” Zhao Peng, the person in charge of Jinxiu Bookstore, said, “You can go to cafes to drink coffee, and you can go to museums to buy cultural and creative products. Whether it is cultural and creative products or coffee and snacks, these consumptions are not unique. The cultural attributes of bookstores It’s what the book gives us. once the center of gravity deviates and it becomes a ‘fast-food’ consumption place, the gain outweighs the loss.”