Jason Y Ng

As I See It | What’s killing Hong Kong bookstores?

Jason Ng discounts the usual suspects behind the closure of chains such as Page One and Dymocks, saying that faulty business sense, in the main, was their undoing

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An engrossed young reader at the Eslite Spectrum bookstore at Star House in Tsim Sha Tsui on October 2 last year. Visitors can also buy refreshments, jewellery, arts and crafts, handbags, skincare and organic products. Photo: Bruce Yan

Jason Y Ng

Published: 2:16pm, 29 Nov 2016Updated: 3:51pm, 29 Nov 2016

Earlier this month, Page One unceremoniously announced the closure of its megastores at Harbour City and Festival Walk, ending the Singapore bookseller’s nearly two-decade stint in Hong Kong. The news came less than two years after Australian outfit Dymocks shut down its IFC Mall flagship and exited the city.

Reaction on social media to the loss of yet another bookstore chain was both immediate and damning. While some attributed Page One’s demise to competition from e-books and online retailers, many put the blame on the lack of a robust reading culture in Hong Kong. Still others pointed their finger at greedy landlords and the sky-high rent they extort from retailers.

But what really killed Page One? An autopsy is in order to examine the cause of death of the book industry’s latest casualty.

The shuttered Page One store at Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui, as the chain shut down its last two stores on November 17. Photo: David Wong

Hong Kong’s Page One bookstores closed as company faces more financial trouble

E-books: The technorati have long prophesised the end of paper. Portable and affordable, Amazon’s Kindle and other e-readers are the physical book’s worst nightmare. But are they really?