作者 | tty453388
来源 | 孔夫子旧书网APP动态
"Among the small bookstores in Hong Kong, I see the hope of bookstores, as long as there are private forces running bookstores, the city will still have temperature. ”
Preface Library
The preface bookstore should be regarded as the bookstore with the most reading atmosphere. As soon as you enter the gate, you can see last month's book sales rankings, posted side by side, and a hand-drawn floor plan of the bookstore.
The location by the window sill is designed as a café area, where readers can order a cup of coffee at the cash register, sit quietly by the window, and watch the people coming and going downstairs. Although limited by the space, there are only three small tables, which are far less than the "most beautiful bookstores" in the mainland today, but in these few square meters, there is also a unique taste.
In the store within 20 minutes, no less than 20 people come and go, no less than 5 people check out, business can be described as prosperous, no wonder people also customized exquisite "book coupons", but unfortunately the unit price is too high, if it is 10 yuan a piece, high and low have to collect one.
開益书店
Kaiyi Bookstore should be regarded as the largest area among these bookstores in the afternoon, saying that it is big, in fact, it is about 100 square meters. Most of the books in the store are trafficked, so the store is empty except for the clerk, which is in great contrast with the preface book room in front. The house is full of air conditioning, but no one patronizes it, and it is estimated that the boss's heart is even colder.
Yulin Bookstore
Yulin Bookstore is the only bookstore that displays the books of Oxford University Press on a separate shelf, and the books of Yang Jiang, He Zhaowu, and Zhou Zuoren are all on sale. To my surprise, the store also sells China National Geographic magazine, which seems to be a must-have guide for domestic travel that is growing in influence day by day.
These bookstores are just some of the "small bookstores" in Hong Kong, and there are many that I have not visited due to my trip, such as "Hong Kong Shenzhou Used Bookstore", which has already opened a store on Kong.com, "Jianshan Bookstore", which will close in March, and "Books&Co" and "Spirit Bookstore", which are popular on Xiaohongshu.
Although I can't verify how long these bookstores have been open, I can tell from the decoration style of the bookstores that most of them are at least 20 years old. For example, after I talked to the staff at Gakutsu Bookstore, I learned that they should have opened 90 years ago.
On the one hand, I am afraid that the reason why there are so many private bookstores in Hong Kong can be attributed to the high price of books in Hong Kong, after all, the price often exceeds 100, and even if the purchase volume does not increase, it can still be maintained to some extent. If, like the mainland, catch up with a "Double 11" and a "618", I am afraid that half of these bookstores will close their doors.
On the other hand, it should benefit from the stable readership of Hong Kong. In this bookstore tour, except for a few bookstores that mainly sell fashion and family life books, although the rest of the bookstores are only more than 100 square meters, they can always maintain 5-10 people, which I never expected.
What is worth pondering is that whether it is a large-scale bookstore such as Sanlian and Zhonghua Book Company, or a large number of small bookstores, the decoration is unpretentious, and there are no elements such as "the most beautiful bookstore" and "Internet celebrity check-in place", nor are there any eye-catching "cultural and creative products" placed in a conspicuous position in the hall, which is very different from the new bookstores in the mainland. The so-called "financial subsidies", cultural and creative products, and the so-called "Internet celebrity check-in places" are just materials in cultural news, which cannot really put bookstores on the right track, and it is difficult to truly improve the cultural literacy of the people.
At present, the operation of physical bookstores in the mainland is difficult, except for a few state-owned units, rent costs and e-commerce squeeze have become two mountains in front of them, hard work - coffee culture and creativity - Internet celebrity check-in - barely maintained - physical subsidies - reluctant to close, it seems to be becoming the only way for small households, and the operation of physical bookstores is bound to enter a vicious circle.
Fortunately, now that there is a hole network online, thousands of you, me, and him with the dream of a bookstore have their own world, which is undoubtedly exciting. But offline physical bookstores are still very few, such as moving forward in the mud. Among the many small bookstores in Hong Kong, I see the hope of bookstores, as long as there are non-governmental forces running bookstores, the city will still have temperature......
It is true that as a beneficiary of the low price of books in the mainland, I can occasionally visit a bookstore in Hong Kong, even if I don't buy it, I can still have some insight. But if you live here for a long time, I'm afraid your wallet won't allow it.
It's for remembering
January 23, 2024
