Eslite Bookstore

Eslite Bookstore
誠品書店
Industry Retailing and real estate
Genre Various
Founded 1989
Founder Robert Wu (吳清友)
Headquarters Xinyi District, Taipei
Number of locations
 Taiwan 48
Hong Kong 3
Mainland China 3
Area served
 Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China
Website Official website
An Eslite Bookstore in a Chung-yo Department store, Taichung.
An Eslite Bookstore in Hysan Place, Hong Kong
Eslite Spectrum Suzhou Store in Suzhou Industrial Park, China

Eslite Bookstore (Chinese: 誠品書店; pinyin: Chéngpǐn Shūdiàn) is one of the largest retail bookstore chains in Taiwan. It also provides one of the largest English language publications and translation materials in Taiwan. Its headquarters are in Xinyi District, Taipei.[1]

Brief history

Eslite was established in 1989 by Robert Wu Ching-yu.[2] The first shop was located in Dunhua South Road, Daan District, Taipei, with a focus and emphasis on art and humanities-related books. Since then, the company has expanded and set up more shops and increased its range of titles on offer. Eslite Bookstore was the first to set up a 24-hour bookstore in Taiwan at its Dunhua store, attracting night-time readers.

Eslite also expanded into retail, and opened up Eslite Mall.

Chronology

  • 1974: established Chen-Jian Corp, importing whole set kitchenware.
  • 1989: established Eslite Corp, first Eslite bookstore built at Taipei Dunhua South Road.
  • 1996: established Eslite Retail Group.
  • 2000: established Eslite Transportation Group, expanded to food and drinks, appliances, and online sales, established Eslite Global Network Corp.
  • 2001: established Eslite Logistics Corp at Nankan, Taoyuan.
  • 2002: Eslite Retail group and Transportation group combined into Life group, introduced Eslite's operation motto as humanity, art, creativity, and life.
  • At midnight on 1 January 2006, Eslite's new flagship bookstore, located in Taipei's Xinyi District, opened for business. With about 8,000 m² of floor space, it became the largest bookstore in Taiwan.

Branches

Eslite has a total of 48 branches, 1 children's bookstore, and 4 music stores in Taiwan. Most of its target market are in urban areas, such as Taipei, Keelung, Yonghe, Banqiao, Sanchong, Yilan, Zhongli, Hsinchu, Fengyuan, downtown Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung.

The first Eslite Bookstore outside Taiwan opened in Hysan Place in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong in 2012. It sold 706,000 books in 2014. The company opened a second Hong Kong location at Star House (Star Annex of Harbour City), Tsim Sha Tsui in 2015.[3]

On 29 November, Eslite Bookstore opened up its first branch in China in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.[4]

  • Eslite Musicstore
  • Eslite Coffeehouse
  • Eslite Winery
  • Eslite Teahouse

Self-censorship controversy

In July 2014, Eslite Hong Kong pulled Tibet-related books off its shelves out of political concerns. Taiwanese media reported that Eslite Taiwan issued an in-company document prohibiting its workers to make comments about the company on social media without approval.[5][6][7][8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://mops.tse.com.tw/server-java/t05st03?TYPEK=pub&colorchg=1&co_id=8958&off=1&%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
  2. ↑ Chung, Lawrence (19 July 2017). "Taiwanese founder of Eslite book chain dies at 66". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017. Robert Wu Ching-yu, whose well-known chain Eslite brought the novelty of a 24-hour bookshop to the Taiwanese capital, has died from a heart condition at 66.
  3. ↑ Cheng, Kris (20 September 2015). "Taiwanese bookstore opening second branch as English-language stores disappear across city". Hong Kong Free Press.
  4. ↑ http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aedu/201511290013.aspx
  5. ↑ Eslite under fire in HK censorship row
  6. ↑ 誠品訂員工封嘴條款？網友批：文創界之恥
  7. ↑ 誠品被爆料 訂員工封嘴條款
  8. ↑ 誠品限制員工言論 學者嘆讓人失望
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