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Native name | 誠品書店 |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retailing and real estate |
| Genre | Various |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Robert Wu (吳清友) |
| Headquarters | Xinyi District, Taipei,Taiwan |
Area served | Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia |
| Website | www |
Eslite Bookstore (Chinese:誠品書店;pinyin:Chéngpǐn Shūdiàn) is one of the largest retailbookstore chains inTaiwan. It also offers one of the largest selections ofEnglish-language publications and translation materials in Taiwan.
Headquartered inXinyi District,Taipei, the chain has 38 branches in Taiwan—mostly in urban areas, such as Taipei,New Taipei,Keelung,Yilan,Zhongli,Hsinchu,Taichung,Chiayi,Tainan,Kaohsiung, andPingtung—and several overseas branches.
Eslite was established in 1989 by Robert Wu Ching-yu.[1] The first shop opened on 12 March 1989 onDunhua South Road,Daan District,Taipei, with a focus and emphasis on art andhumanities-related books. Since then, the company has expanded and set up more shops and increased its range of titles on offer.
On the store's tenth anniversary, the flagship Dunhua South Road store began operating 24 hours a day—Taiwan's first all-night bookstore.
In 2006, Eslite opened a store in Taipei'sXinyi District. It became the chain's flagship and only 24-hour store after the Dunhua location closed on 31 May 2020.[2] It closed on 24 December 2023 after site landlordUni-President Group did not renew the lease.
On 20 January 2024, the Eslite branch atSongshan Cultural and Creative Park, known as Eslite Spectrum Songyan, became the chain's 24-hour location.[3]
The first Eslite Bookstore outside Taiwan opened inHysan Place inCauseway Bay, Hong Kong, in 2012. It sold 706,000 books in 2014. The company opened a second Hong Kong location atStar House (Star Annex ofHarbour City),Tsim Sha Tsui, in 2015.[4]
In July 2014, theTaipei Times reported that Eslite Hong Kong had removed books about Tibet, such as those byWang Lixiong, and "issued an in-company document prohibiting its workers to make comments about the company on social media without approval". The company had plans to expand into mainland China.[5][6][7][8]
On 29 November 2015, Eslite Bookstore opened its first branch in mainland China, in the city ofSuzhou, Jiangsu.[9]
On 17 December 2022, Eslite opened its first bookstore inSoutheast Asia: Eslite Spectrum in the heart ofKuala Lumpur,Malaysia.[1]
Eslite also expanded into retail, and openedEslite Mall. Other related businesses include:
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.
Media related toEslite Bookstore at Wikimedia Commons| Department stores |
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