After more than 40 years of business in Hong Kong, Singapore’s bookstore chain Popular has closed all its 16 branches across the city amid a retail market slump, with critics warning of more closures amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A cultural critic also said 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.

Publishing house the Commercial Press announced on Thursday its bookstores in Leung King, Tuen Mun, and Jordan would be shut down next month.

On Wednesday, 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”.

“This is a very difficult decision. The retail book industry has been facing structural challenges in Hong Kong over the past decade. The deterioration in the last 12 months has led to a severe contraction in retail revenues,” a group spokesman said.

“However, due to high rent and labour costs, the company has to bear the pain to stop our retail business in the face of the worsening business environment,” he said.

View photos Popular Bookstore will continue its non-retail business in Hong Kong, with a focus on educational publishing, e-learning, and educational services. Photo: May Tse More

The Singaporean publisher and book retailer was last week sued for some HK$470,000 (US$60,520) outstanding rent for its Whampoa Garden branch.

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.

The company will switch some of the affected staff to relevant internal vacancies, while others will be compensated in accordance with the Hong Kong labour laws.

Hong Kong SME Publications Association’s vice-chairman Jimmy Pang Chi-ming, also head of publishing house Sub-culture, said the city’s publishing and bookstore business had been hard hit since the anti-government protests erupted in June last year in opposition to the now-withdrawn extradition bill.

“The political movement has prompted many democracy supporters to boycott three leading Chinese-backed bookstore chains – Joint Publishing, Commercial Press, and Chung Hwa Book Company – which form a market share of about 70 per cent in Hong Kong. This is a devastating blow to the book business in Hong Kong,” he said.

“At the same time, affected by the turmoil, many Hongkongers are in no mood to read books or hang out in bookshops”, he added.

Pang said by the end of last year, the publishing and book retail sector saw their overall business plummet by up to 80 per cent. “Further dragged by the coronavirus outbreak, over the past few months, their business was close to zero,” he said.

He said since the Lunar New Year, no new book had been published in Hong Kong due to the suspension of mainland’s publishers amid the pandemic and the poor market sentiment.

“The closure of the Popular bookstore chain is a pity, meaning Hong Kong has lost a venue for cultural promotion and alternative reading,” he said.

Pang said the Popular bookstore chain had its unique status in Hong Kong’s book retail market. “Unlike other bookstores which cater to adults, Popular bookstores were a great place to hang out for families – young and old, men and women. Their choice of books and stationery items have catered to the needs of people from all walks of life,” he said.

View photos Cultural critic Perry Lam says Hong Kong’s big publishing houses and bookstore companies have been conservative and outdated in developing their business. Photo: May Tse More

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