Eslite Bookstore Explained

Eslite Bookstore 誠品書店
Genre:	Various
Foundation:	1989
Founder:	Robert Wu (吳清友)
Location:	Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan
Area Served:	Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia
Industry:	Retailing and real estate

Eslite Bookstore is one of the largest retail bookstore chains in Taiwan. It also offers one of the largest selections of English-language publications and translation materials in Taiwan. Its headquarters is in Xinyi District, Taipei.

Brief history

Eslite was established in 1989 by Robert Wu Ching-yu.^[1] 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 38 branches in Taiwan. Most of its target market are in urban areas, such as Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Yilan, Zhongli, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung.

The original Eslite Bookstore opened on Dunhua South Road in Taipei on 12 March 1989. Open 24 hours starting on the store's tenth anniversary in March 1999, it became known as Eslite's flagship location until it closed permanently on 31 May 2020.^[2]

The Xinyi District location of Eslite Bookstore opened in 2006, and after the 2020 closure of the original store, the Xinyi branch became the next branch of the bookstore to be open 24 hours. This branch closed on 24 December 2023 after the site landlord Uni-President Group did not renew the lease. Following this, the Eslite branch at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, known as Eslite Spectrum Songyan, became Eslite's 24-hour location from 20 January 2024.^[3]

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.^[4]

On 29 November 2015, Eslite Bookstore opened up its first branch in China in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu.^[5]

In 2022, Eslite opened its first bookstore in Southeast Asia in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 17 December. It will be known under the name of Eslite Spectrum.

Related businesses

• Eslite Musicstore
• Eslite Coffeehouse
• Eslite Winery
• Eslite Teahouse
• Eslite Gallery, founded in 1989. It is one of Taiwan's most prestigious contemporary art galleries.^[6]

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 from making comments about the company on social media without approval.^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}

See also

• List of companies of Taiwan
• Page One
• Taiwanese art

Notes and References

1. News: https://web.archive.org/web/20170720151443/http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2103339/taiwanese-founder-eslite-book-chain-dies-66?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d34d47c815-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_07_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d34d47c815-29723437&mc_cid=d34d47c815&mc_eid=1f9d28130a . 20 July 2017 . . Taiwanese founder of Eslite book chain dies at 66 . 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. . 19 July 2017 . Lawrence . Chung . live . 23 July 2017.
2. News: Cheung . Han . 31 May 2020 . Taiwan in Time: Becoming Taiwan’s ‘sleepless’ bookstore . 28 January 2024 . The Taipei Times . 8.
3. Web site: Eslite Xinyi officially closes after 18 years – Radio Taiwan International. 28 January 2024. en.rti.org.tw. 25 December 2023 . en.
4. News: Cheng. Kris. Taiwanese bookstore opening second branch as English-language stores disappear across city. Hong Kong Free Press. 20 September 2015.
5. Web site: Eslite opens first bookstore in mainland China – Focus Taiwan. 30 June 2020. focustaiwan.tw. 29 November 2015 . zh-Hant-TW.
6. Web site: Liu . Lyla . Taiwanese Eslite Gallery relocates after decades in Taipei . www.taiwannews.com.tw . 26 May 2020 . Taiwan News . 26 May 2020.
7. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/07/03/2003594221 Eslite under fire in HK censorship row
8. http://www.ettoday.net/news/20140703/374559.htm 誠品訂員工封嘴條款？網友批：文創界之恥
9. http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/paper/792809 誠品被爆料 訂員工封嘴條款
10. Web site: 誠品限制員工言論 學者嘆讓人失望 . 3 July 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140705200025/http://www.stormmediagroup.com/opencms/news/detail/042f8150-019e-11e4-8645-ef2804cba5a1/?uuid=042f8150-019e-11e4-8645-ef2804cba5a1 . 5 July 2014 . dead .