Book store Bookazine is closing its Queen’s Rd store – but the move has nothing to do with demand for books.
The move has been forced by demolition plans for the building and all tenants have had to move out to make way for the wrecking ball.
The company says it has had plenty of warning of the impending move – the reason behind its opening of a new store at nearby 46 Lyndhurst Tce.
“There is a huge demand for books here,” Shonee Mirchandani told HKFP.
“On the one hand, I want to say people in Hong Kong don’t read enough and would rather play with their phones on the MTR or watch TV when they have free time. On the other hand, you just have to look at the sheer number of people who go to the [Hong Kong] Book Fair to appreciate that,” she said.
With the demise of the Dymocks chain in Hong Kong, and the closure earlier this year of Page One in Times Square, commentators have been predicting the demise of the traditional printed book retailer.
But like Taiwan’s Eslite, which has just announced plans for a new superstore in Tsim Sha Tsui Bookazine is confident it has a future.
Bookazine is a family run business and has focused on selling English language books in Hong Kong for 30 years.
“Many bookshops in [Hong Kong] did close last year, but I am sure if we look at the numbers then many restaurants and fashion brands closed too. The truth is that running any retail store in [Hong Kong] is tough – it’s a competitive market for retail space, rent and staff,” she told HKFP.