Time for bookstores to turn the page

Begging for help

One Way Street Library, a privately owned bookstore in Beijing founded by several intellectuals in 2006, posted a letter asking for help on the Sina Weibo social media platform on Feb 24. It said the bookstore can only survive with the help of the public.

The letter said the epidemic had eaten into their cash reserves.

One Way Street Library has kept only one of its four stores open during the epidemic, and customer traffic has fallen to a 10th of its usual volume.

"We can only sell 15 books a day on average, and even then half of those books are bought by our own clerks," wrote Xu Zhiyuan, one of the founders of One Way Street Library.

The bookstore has tried different ways to boost revenue, such as live-streaming book sales and discount promotions. However, the extra income generated was so small it was not enough to pay a clerk's salary for one day.

One Way Street Library is now asking its supporters to buy stored-value cards online ranging from 50 yuan ($7) to 8,000 yuan.

"I bought a 8,000 yuan stored-value card," said Ding Zhe, 45, a white-collar worker in Beijing who seldom purchases books in brick-and-mortar shops.

"I always buy books online, which is cheaper and more convenient," he said. "I just want to help because I think it's worthwhile for physical bookstores to exist in this city."

Ding said he may never use the card.

Xu Lin, a college student who bought a 50-yuan card, said: "no matter how hard life becomes, deep down we should always keep believing in our dreams. Books are where most dreams grow from".

Booyee is a niche business which trades in secondhand and antiquarian books. It has the dual problems of being heavily overstocked and a shortage of capital due to the epidemic, according to a report by China Entrepreneur, a Beijing-based magazine.

Hu Tong, founder and owner of Booyee, has held several online auctions to raise cash.

Even though the bookstore has only 12 staff, including Hu, labor costs constitute the biggest component of its 200,000 yuan monthly outlays. The second highest cost is rent, Hu said.

Booyee also sell books online, and sales have returned to around 70 percent of the pre-epidemic level, which is helping the business stay afloat.

The Beijing municipal government has policies and measures to help brick-and-mortar bookstores to survive, one of which is handing out subsidies. Hu has applied for a subsidy and is waiting for it to be approved.