Taiwanese bookstore Eslite Spectrum opens first SE Asian outlet in KL, goals to be a novel way of life spot

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — E-book lovers, take notice!

A brand new bookshop is on the town, and it combines bookstore-browsing expertise with arts, espresso and way of life — a mixture that’s arguably the most effective for individuals who want to nicely spend their after-hours in a metropolitan district like Bukit Bintang.

Taiwanese mega bookshop chain Eslite Spectrum has opened its first South-east Asian retailer at The Starhill premium shopping center in Kuala Lumpur to supply a full spectrum of experiences that goes past simply looking books.

Spanning over 6,500 sq. metres, the shop affords a broad vary of books in English, Chinese language, Malay, Japanese and different languages.

Other than books, there are quite a few way of life retailers together with cafes, trend, arts and crafts, present objects and stationery.

Merely put, Eslite Spectrum is a well-curated “mini shopping center” by itself.

Whereas the megastore affords quite a lot of cleverly-handpicked manufacturers, what catches the thoughts, at first sight, is the general design and temper if you set foot on its floor.

That’s the unimaginable work of Taiwanese structure Powen Hsiao who drew inspiration from Italian writer Italo Calvino’s basic Invisible Cities.

Eslite additionally labored with the Malaysian group Loka Made on inside ornament.

Eslite Spectrum chairperson Mercy Wu talks concerning the firm’s journey through the years. Eslite Spectrum is dwelling to over a thousand curated Taiwanese-designed items. — Image by Raymond Manuel

Should you take a stroll by means of the shop, you’ll discover the house is split into 4 themed cities, specifically the Metropolis of Arches, The Floating Metropolis, Metropolis of Rippling Waves and Metropolis of Everlasting Day — every providing a distinct temper and merchandise.

The Metropolis of Arches is the place yow will discover an enormous multilingual e book assortment, full with Eslite’s record of beneficial reads curated by its workers members.

The bookstore can also be dwelling to Eslite Youngsters which affords devoted lists of beneficial books, bestsellers and month-to-month themed exhibitions for the little ones.

It additionally hosts actions similar to storytelling to carry studying enjoyable to kids.

Should you like stationery, Eslite Writing Boutique is a spot to not miss.

The boutique resembles an city speakeasy bar providing distinctive stationery objects from 36 international locations.

The architectural design, arrange and lighting of the boutique make it an ideal Insta-worthy venue for individuals who need to take some snaps whereas buying.

There are additionally over a thousand curated Taiwanese-designed items in addition to world-class connoisseur espresso manufacturers to maintain customers busy whereas they go to Eslite Spectrum.

The bookstore covers 40 per cent of the ground house whereas the remaining 60 per cent is equally shared between meals and beverage and inventive shops.

Eslite Spectrum is dwelling to over a thousand curated Taiwanese-designed items. — Image by Raymond Manuel

From making losses to changing into a global chain

Identical to the design and its idea, Eslite Spectrum has an interesting story.

The bookstore was based by the late Robert Wu in 1989 after a significant coronary heart operation.

His daughter and the present Eslite Spectrum chairperson Mercy Wu stated after the operation, her father found that life was fairly impermanent and he might lose the whole lot in a minute.

“Following his surgical procedure, he based Eslite to mix books, arts, trend manufacturers and creative boards into one retailer.

“However he didn’t take into consideration the right way to earn cash. Subsequently, typically we joked to him that he had an excellent achievement however made a loss for 15 years to make Eslite sustainable.”

Regardless of the challenges, the model managed to fine-tune its enterprise technique and change into a profitable one-of-a-kind bookstore in Taiwan earlier than increasing its footprints to Japan, China, Hong Kong and now Malaysia.

Eslite Writing Boutique affords distinctive stationery objects from 36 international locations. — Image by Raymond Manuel

Mercy stated when she joined the corporate in 2004, her dad instructed her that Eslite is now not a bookstore.

“It ought to place itself as a way of life trade to change into a platform for the cultural inventive issues to occur.

“Our speciality has all the time been the brick and mortar retailer administration.”

The Starhill outlet marks Eslite Spectrum’s forty eighth retailer.

In line with Mercy, they’re planning to open an enormous retailer in Taiwan subsequent yr measuring 80,000 sq. metres.

Transferring ahead, Mercy stated she hopes to study extra concerning the market right here and the Malaysian demographic earlier than setting a route for growth plans in Malaysia.