Are Singapore's bookshops doomed?

The mega-bookshop is a thing of the past, but indie spaces might still thrive

- Ong Sor Fern

When news broke recently about Books Kinokuniya's Takashimaya flagship downsizing, I was sad but not particularly surprised.

Bookshops are under threat all around the world. Even in Japan, I was depressed to discover recently that the marvellous Tsutaya bookstore overlooking Tokyo's famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing had become a co-working space.

In Singapore, the challenge is twofold: rocketing rental and plummeting sales.

For a brief period in the halcyon late 1990s and early 2000s, however, the scene looked very different.

As a young working adult then, I remember hanging out at Tower Books, which carried cutting-edge small presses and a broad range of magazines. Then Borders Books detonated at Wheelock Place like a bombshell, introducing Singaporeans to the idea of a lifestyle bookshop.

For a while, it seemed like there was a mega-bookshop opening every year.