Kinokuniya's downsizing could write a new chapter in bookstore retail

Book culture's going communal. Bookstores need to tap that.

- Debbie Yong

While wandering through Ngee Ann City last week, I momentarily forgot which floor Kinokuniya was on and asked a mall employee for directions.

"Oh, the stationery shop?" she replied. "That's one floor up."

I clutched my metaphorical pearls. Stationery shop? That's like calling the Louvre a frame store. Since when did Singapore's most iconic bookstore get demoted to become a purveyor of pens?

Perhaps she had a point. To many, the Japanese book retailer has become less about books and more about beautiful notebooks and washi tape.

After all, Singaporeans seem to be reading — and buying — fewer books. A 2021 National Library Board survey found that only about one in three adult respondents reported reading six books or more a year.

Yet, when the news broke in February that Kinokuniya's 26-year-old flagship store in Ngee Ann City would be downsizing from its current 38,000 sq ft footprint to make room for a cafe, among other things, the outrage from book lovers was instant and impassioned.

Social media lit up with emotional eulogies about the death of bricks-and-mortar bookstores. Many feared a future where serious literature will be shelved for flat whites and lifestyle fluff.

But let's not close the book just yet. Maybe this isn't the end of the plot, but a fresh new chapter for Kinokuniya's long-overdue evolution.

FROM SANCTUARIES TO SOCIAL SPACES

We tend to romanticise bookstores as quiet, contemplative sanctuaries. But they are increasingly becoming social spaces.

In our hyper-online world, there's a growing appetite for offline moments, and savvier bookstores have re-imagined themselves as safe spaces where bookworms can emerge from their shells and connect.

At independent bookstore Book Bar, author talks and book launches continue to draw healthy crowds.

Book clubs have also proliferated — at least seven have emerged in Singapore over the past two years.