Malaysia's bookshop boom: a bricks-and-mortar revival
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Loading... - Banyul Nur
- 06 Sep 2022
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When former journalists Fong Min Hun and Elaine Lau opened Lit Books in Kuala Lumpur in 2017, they fielded “a lot of scepticism” about the prospect of running a bricks-and-mortar bookshop. Critics speculated that it was a sunset industry, and that people were only interested in e-books now.
“But no,” says Lau. “People still read physical books.” And so the husband-and-wife team rented a shop with high ceilings and ample sunlight.
The cashier desk doubles as a counter where guests can sit with tea or coffee and flip through a novel. Bookshelves have wheels so that they can be easily moved aside for a jazz performance, author reading or literary quiz.
Malaysia boasts one of the world’s highest literacy rates, but a 2016 report found that among Malaysians who read regularly, just 3% picked up a book, most preferring to read a newspaper. It is why the pre-pandemic book industry here was suffering from closures and shrinking revenue.
Two years of lockdowns also hurt retail and forced booksellers online. But when people were stuck at home, they began to read more. According to the National Library of Malaysia, demand for digital reading material doubled in 2020 compared to 2019. Lit Books, meanwhile, recorded monthly sales increases of up to 60% in 2020.
Now Kuala Lumpur is experiencing a resurgence of bricks-and-mortar bookshops. Independent sellers are betting that the pandemic-era pickup in reading will sustain and translate into in-store sales. They are finding ways to boost physical retail, from befriending customers and stocking niche paperbacks to opening cafes and curating the shelves of boutique hotels.
In 2020, Malaysian book retailer MPH closed scores of shops and shifted to e-commerce. Malaysian chain BookXcess faced a similar crisis. Read More...
