Critic has said that the shutdown of Popular bookstores should serve as a wake-up call for other leading bookstore chains in Hong Kong to rethink their operation models, saying most of the city’s bookstores were old-fashioned and out of touch with Hongkongers’ pace of the pursuit of knowledge.
On last Wednesday (18 March), Singapore-based Popular Holdings announced “restructuring” of its Hong Kong business by closing all its 16 bookstores, amid “the continuing downturn in the book retail market”.
Good new is that the book company said it would still continue its non-retail business in Hong Kong, with a focus on educational publishing, e-learning, and educational services. “The group’s mission in promoting education remains unchanged,” the spokesman said.
Guess times are bad and it’s not looking great. Even a 40 years old book store chain needs to be closed down.