Shanghai book stores rise to great heights to lure customers

The newly opened Duoyun Book Store in Shanghai Tower offers visitors panoramic views of the city along with their coffee as well as an ocean of books. It's on the 52nd floor, nearly 240 meters off the ground.

People stroll and read books in Duoyun Bookstore on the 52th floor, 239 meters above the ground, on opening day in Shanghai, China, August 12, 2019. [Photo: IC]

6,000 visitors stopped by on the first day, spending more than 50,000 yuan. Almost 60 percent of that was on books and trinkets, and the rest went to coffee and desserts.

Feng Jie is the operational director of Shanghai Century Duoyun Culture.

"I think the best way for a physical bookstore to survive is to know what market it's targeting, and then listen to their customers," she said. "Take this bookstore for example, since it's located in this building which has many white-collar workers, we stock books with higher quality and more imported books. And now we offer small gifts and mementos, some of them imported from Southeast Asia, Japan and Taiwan"

The new bookstore is co-hosting activities for this year's Shanghai Book Fair from August 14 to 20, including lectures and autograph sessions. The book fair has teamed up with more than 100 physical bookstores citywide this year.

(Story includes material sourced from CCTV)