The Curious Case of the Disappearing Hong Kong Bookshops

It’s a mystery, Holmes!

What is?

Why -  the case of the disappearing English-language bookshops in Hong Kong, of course.

Tell me more.

Well, there used to be lots of English-language retailers in Hong Kong, now there’s only a handful. Let me see: Swindon Book Company; Kelly & Walsh; Hong Kong Book Centre; Bookazine (10 small stores) and maybe I can include The Commercial Press branch in Causeway Bay (they are really a Chinese language book store but with a decent English book selection). That’s it!

Kelly & Walsh in an upscale shopping mall on HK Island

Hong Kong Book Centre - down the steps into the basement shop; Central

Bookazine - main branch in Prince's Building, Central

The Commercial Press, mainly in Chinese but with a large English section - Causeway Bay

Swindon Book Co in Kowloon side
 

The presumption is that there were previously more English-language bookshops?

Of course there were! Look, the Dymocks chain, an Australian franchise with 13 branches, closed down almost two years ago. Their bookshops were excellent, professionally run with an excellent range of magazines and books; they stocked the latest issues and promoted Asian writers too. Then there is Page One, a Singaporean group that owned three mega-stores, at Harbour City, Festival Walk and Times Square. They closed down a couple of months ago. They weren’t my favourite booksellers; while they carried huge stocks, customer service was sometimes lacking, books were occasionally misfiled and rarely displayed effectively.

I thought the  big Taiwanese bookseller, Eslite,  opened stores in Hong Kong recently?

Well yes, there are a handful of mega-stores now but Eslite is hardly a bookseller. Granted, the stores have 10,000+ books, most in Chinese language, but they also sell a lot of rubbish – boutique homemade jewellery, designer home wares, wine accessories, leather bags, organic products – expensive tosh.

Eslite - Tai Koo - describes itself as a 'bookstore'...ho hum!

You’re a little biased aren’t you, Watson?

I think a bookshop should just sell books, Holmes – maybe a decent cup of coffee while one is browsing - if that’s biased, then I’m biased.

And both Dymocks and Page One have closed down in the last couple of years?

Yes…but it’s even worse. The number of bookshops at Hong Kong Airport has also been drastically reduced. Page One and another company were granted a lease on 16 stores from 2009, now Page one has also lost its lease on its airport shops and the other company, Relay, is down to five shops…and, Holmes, you will not like this, a mainland company, Chung Hwa, will run five of the remaining ten.

Smell a rat do you?

Well, you have to wonder. There was all that kerfuffle last year with the booksellers who were allegedly kidnapped and ended up in mainland China. The airport bookshops often sold books that were very gossipy and salacious about the Chinese leadership…makes you wonder.

So, it’s all due to mainland censorship is it?

Do you have a better reason Holmes?

Tell me about the economic situation in Hong Kong just now.

Not good, I suppose. Retail sales are down, high street rents are down by up to 40% since the peak in fourth quarter 2013, there is slowing growth in China and the anti-corruption drive in mainland China shows no signs of slowing.

Even with the English-language bookshops that remain, they are reducing their stocks, not investing in as many new books. You know, I visited all the bookshops looking for the latest paperback by a Singaporean writer and ex-lawyer, Shamini Flint, and couldn’t find a copy. Just a couple of years ago most of the shops would have had a copy and several of her earlier works. Now, no one stocks her and there are very few new Asian writers supported.

Bookazine's flagship store on the top floor of Prince's Building in Central moved to a new location on the same floor in the last 12 months, one that is much smaller, the amount of books and magazines that they stock now is less than half the amount they had 12 months ago. The 'flagship' store has become a sampan store.

Do you notice anything in the streets, when you walk about, compared to, say, our last visit one year ago?

Well, there’s many fewer tourists. Westerners definitely, but also mainlanders; there used to be lots of them everywhere - do you remember the big crocodiles of mainland tourists with the leader holding an umbrella or flag at the front? Even the little entrepreneurs, the men and women who bought cheap stuff for resale back in China, they used to squat outside the stores and stuff their huge suitcases for the journey back across the border.

And did you notice any difference in the types of stores that you see now in the luxury shopping malls?

Now that you mention it – yes I did. I mean there are fewer restaurants and food outlets, more high end retailers of jewellery, watches, high end fashion brands. I suppose they can afford the rents. They say that while retail shop rents are falling, the rents in luxury malls are being maintained – just!

Maybe it’s become too expensive for booksellers?

What about alternative forms of consumption?

What do you mean, Holmes?

Do people just read books and just buy them in shops?

Well no…that’s good thinking, Holmes. You’re right you know! Everyone is on their smartphone now. I’ve never seen so many people using smartphones, they’re looking at them all the time, everywhere. I suppose they are also reading news…and articles, books even. Maybe they are ordering books on the internet too? Yes, of course they must be. And there are lots of free newspapers given away in the early morning by these old ladies who stand at the entrances on the MTR stations.

What about the use of English in Hong Kong?

Now, that’s definitely falling. Fewer people speak it, or speak it well; go into the big shops now and the priority is Mandarin or Japanese. In fact, although Chinese and English are the two official languages of Hong Kong under Basic Law, they tell me that more people speak Putonghua than English now. I suppose it makes sense with the shortage of Western tourists too. After all, this is a Chinese city, about 95% speak Chinese and only 3.5% speak English so perhaps it’s no surprise it no longer supports a lot of English-language bookshops, especially when the economy is suffering.

Hey! Maybe that’s why the number of English-language bookshops is falling? How did you work that out Holmes?

It’s elementary my dear Watson! I believe you will also find that the successful bookshops are those that have a longstanding agreement to supply textbooks to local schools and colleges; that makes them especially resilient in a downturn…yes, it’s quite elementary.