杭州那些美好的书店?点亮城市之光
2019-04-19李月红孙凯
李月红?孙凯
面朝西湖,书香无边。杭州市民和来杭州的游客发现,西湖边又多了一处“最美书店”——言几又今日阅读IN77店。人们在附近游西湖、看电影、逛商场,顺道走进书店,挑本书,临窗而坐,窗外的西湖山水“秒变”成最美的阅读背景。如此美妙的阅读体验引来不少网友点赞:“伴西湖四季,句句留香。”
杭州的实体书店正加速落地。不久前,杭州市文广旅局提供的数据显示:2018年,杭州新增实体书店319家,比2017年增长28.6%,接近于每天新增一家实体书店,增速创历史新高;全年图书销售总额18.68亿元,人均年购书额达234.47元。
而这样的加速落地还在继续。最新数据顯示,2019年1月1日至2月12日,杭州再增46家实体书店。至此,杭州全市实体书店总数达3157家,相当于每3000人就拥有一家实体书店。
如今的红红火火,让人不禁想到实体书店此前经历的那波寒潮。2012年,我国传统图书零售业销售额首次出现负增长。为扶持实体书店的发展,2013年,中央财政在包括杭州在内的12个城市开展实体书店扶持试点工作。如今,在国家和地方一系列政策的推动下,实体书店再次迎来发展高潮。在这增长趋势中,实体书店的业态和格局正在发生怎样的变化,又将为我省全民阅读带来哪些新气象?
书店开在哪
青睐综合体,走到身边来
杭州正在迅速成为全国知名书店的集聚地。继西西弗、言几又、钟书阁相继落户杭州后,独立书店品牌“单向空间”也正式入驻杭州远洋乐堤港。
这是“单向空间”首次在北京以外开出书店,是它在全国的第4家门店,也是长三角地区首家旗舰店。
书店位于乐堤港三楼,总面积超过2000平方米,共3层。一楼为创造区,主要推荐当代优秀青年创作群体的新书;二楼为沉浸区,分人文社科、艺术、生活等专题区,同时在各个区域设计大小不等的座位,供读者坐下来阅读;三楼为参与区,有亲子书、二手书等,以分享交流为主。
“这是今年杭州新增书店里单体面积最大的一家。”杭州市文广旅局市场处负责人王卫平说。在为期半个月的预开业期间,书店举办了16场阅读分享会。就在开业当天,名为“第四届单向空间书店文学奖”的活动同时举行,吸引了戴锦华、陈冠中、许知远等学者参与。因报名太踊跃,书店还对活动现场进行了视频直播。
开在乐堤港的“单向空间”,从某种程度上反映了实体书店选址的新趋势。在传统的书店业人士看来,街边有人流量,校园里有目标群体,是最佳的选址地。而在新一轮的开店大潮中,实体书店开始走向更细分的目标群体。其中,对外地品牌书店而言,商业综合体成为最多的选择。可以看到的状况是,近年来杭州新增的综合体内至少会引进一家书店,国大城市广场甚至开出3家以图书和图书周边产品为销售主体的实体书店。
“实体书店,正在成为新零售时代的流量担当。”多位书店负责人表达了同样的观点。以钟书阁书店为例,在进驻杭州的当天,人流量超过2.3万人次,书店所在地杭州滨江星光大道更是成为游客来杭的打卡地之一。正是看中这种超强的导流能力,书店已成为城市商业综合体的“标配”。
相比较而言,本地书店更重视地方文化的营造:晓风书屋去年新增3家分店,分别开在浙大一院、良渚博物院和写字楼里;凤翮筑梦书屋则布局社区店和校园店;纯真年代书吧也在杭州杨柳郡社区开出首家分店。
不仅如此,书店还开进了高速服务区。位于杭千高速建德服务区的新书店,由联华华商集团打造。据了解,联华试水实体书店已不是第一次。早在前两年,它就和浙江省新华书店集团合作,在西湖文化广场店内开设“书香世家”,增强零售体验。
值得关注的是,在新增书店中,出现了不少乡村书店的身影。2019年元旦前夕,位于杭州萧山区河上镇的最美乡村书店“绿野书舍”正式开张。白墙黛瓦的空间里,灵动柔光的照射下,数万册新书静立在错落有致的木质书架中,十分温馨。这样温润的乡村书店正在各地开花,桐庐大同镇也刚开出一家笃志书屋,受到当地读者欢迎。
书店怎样开
经营多元化,空间高颜值
文化消费的快速介入,深刻改变着实体书店业的经营内容。笔者走访了3家新书店,看看书店里都有哪些新变化。
第一家是零点书房,去年1月开业,开在萧山市心桥旁边,营业至每晚24时,由新华书店打造。书店里有很多科技元素,比如导购机器人“小新”、自助购书、智能图书定位等服务;店内还有许多文化元素,有中国历代著名书法作品展、诺贝尔文学奖主题墙;书店里还有咖啡店,让读者享受“一个人,一杯咖啡,一本书”的静谧生活。
第二家是晓风鹤庐书斋,去年8月开业,开在浙大一院住院部一楼。这也是晓风书屋的第二家医院书店。书店面积约100平方米,有两万册书籍,书的品种以传统文学为主,契合医院文化的“治愈系”属性。书店还销售近百种丰子恺文创产品,如书签、茶具、帆布包等。
第三家是言几又IN77店。这是“言几又”过去一年在杭州新开的第5家门店。在空间布局上,书店分为图书区、童书区、文创区和休闲区。图书区内,陈列着近3万种图书,其中四分之一为外文版和艺术设计类;文创区以日常生活用品为主,如玻璃器皿、丝巾、手作等,其中不乏本土品牌;休闲区位于书店临西湖最好的位置,可供读者坐下来交流分享。
從这三家书店的经营范围来看,零点书房和“言几又”引入休闲消费区,晓风书屋引入图书周边产业。实体书店不再仅仅卖书,“书+”正在成为民营书店转型的集体选择。
这样的跨界并非个例。一位书店经营者介绍说,他的书店去年图书销售与往年基本持平,咖啡休闲消费增长10%,文创产品销售增长40%。杭州市印刷发行协会负责人李大军认为,“这一趋势得益于近年来中央鼓励实体书店多元发展、复合经营的大背景”。
实体书店也在进入高颜值时代。近年来,无论是国有书店还是民营书店,能够成为网友眼中的“网红书店”,最重要的因素就是空间设计。用李大军的话说,高颜值是新开书店最主要的特点。
比如言几又IN77店,就是由日本设计师森下悠也操刀,以西湖为主题,整体布局成“西湖倒影”“西湖涟漪”“山脊线”三部分。
另一个值得注意的现象是,多种产业开始进军书店业。去年11月底,独角兽企业“妈妈去哪儿”联合浙江省新华书店集团在三墩开出首家亲子书店。在这里,既有尿不湿等婴童用品,又有育儿书籍等文化用品,还有婴童嬉戏、妈妈产后修复等多重区域。
事实上,除了零售业,餐饮业、设计业、汽车销售业等多个领域也纷纷进入实体书店业。
实体书店的变化,不仅仅是引入新业态,更在于主动走出去,通过图书业态为其他行业赋能,打造新型文化交流空间。浙江省新华书店集团董事长王忠义认为,未来的书店,必定是以用户为中心来研究新需求,以新技术为手段来提升服务力,真正实现把书店融入人们的美好生活中去。
当笔者奔波在调研路上时,微信朋友圈里又传来一家新书店开业的消息。杭州浣纱路上新开了一家吾南书社,店主的“爱”就是将一整面墙的书架给了一套书——《浙江文丛》。这是浙江人文历史的第一部百科全书,仅一期体量就超过500册、1.2亿文字。
书店是“城市之光”,它以怎样的方式存在于我们的日常生活中,必将潜移默化地影响一座城市的生活品质和精神状态。
(图片来自视觉中国)
More than Books:Love and Culture Shared in Bookstores
By Li Yuehong, Sun Kai
As most avid readers will tell you, encountering a good book can be one of the most rewarding experiences known to man. This is so true on the lakeshores of Hangzhou, where the joy of reading can be tasted by sitting beside the window facing the intoxicatingly beautiful lakescape. A newcomer of the citys lakeside bookstore “club” is Yan Ji You, set in the chic IN77 mall.
Hangzhou is justifiably a “reading city”, strewn with countless serene hideaways for book lovers. Wherever you turn, a bookstore is just around the corner. Statistics show 319 bookstores joined the city in the year 2018 and the year generated a total book sales revenue reaching 1.868 billion yuan. From January 1 to February 12, 2019, the city saw the opening of another 46 bookstores and the total number of physical bookstores reaching 3,157. It seems that this city has somehow been spared the widespread damage done to “brick-and-mortar” bookstores elsewhere by the outbreak of electronic books and online bookstores. The citys bustling bookstore scene is also the result of a governmental campaign launched by the central government in 2013 to boost bookstore investment in 12 cities across the country.
Following Sisyphus, Yan Ji You and Zhong Shu Ge, OWSPACE recently opened its first bookstore outside Beijing. The Hangzhou location, set in the Grand Canal Space, is also the brands fourth “child” in China and the flagship store in the Yangtze River Delta region.
Decked out on three floors, OWSPACE adds significantly to the citys reading atmosphere in the shape of a book-cum-lifestyle outlet. The bookstore presents not only a comprehensive selection of categorized books and periodicals shelved together, but lures one into a stimulating environment loaded with a whole range of lifestyle items and exquisite goods of a cultural nature. It also includes a special parents-and-children zone and a secondhand book zone set on the third floor.
The Hangzhou branch of OWSPACE is also the largest of the bookstores newly added to the citys bookstore list. Within only two weeks after its opening, it organized as many as 16 reading parties including the inaugural meeting attended by a group of cultural celebrities including Dai Jinhua and Xu Zhiyuan. The brand goes to great lengths to promote reading for people of all ages and walks of life by providing an attractive and stimulating learning environment.
The launch of OWSPACE also reveals a noticeable trend regarding the selection of location in Hangzhou. Shopping malls have become a reliable option – the opening of Zhong Shu Ge at the Star Avenue in the citys Binjiang District in 2016 caused a stir in the city, drawing in about 23,000 people on the opening day.
Xiaofeng Bookstore, having long been the citys de facto cultural rendezvous point, launched three new branches in 2018 to better fulfill its “community service” policy. The new location of Innocent Ages, at the Yangliujun residential neighborhood in Hangzhou, quickly became an integral part of the community, with residents taking full advantage of the opportunity to be whisked away into the fascinating world of books. Bookstores in Hangzhou even have their tentacles reaching expressway service areas – drivers on the Hangzhou-Qiandaohu Expressway can take a break at the bookstore located in the Jiande Service Station.
The launch of “the most beautiful country bookstore” at the tail-end of Chinese Lunar Year, 2018 brought a first-class collection of reading materials into Heshang Town in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou. Beautifully adapted to the old-fashioned atmosphere of the town, the bookstore lends a brilliant final touch to the overall historical magnificence of the town interlacing with an engaging, pastoral setting.
“Smart features” are adding a great deal to the appeal of bookstores, as can be seen at the “00:00 Bookstore”, opened a year ago in downtown Xiaoshan. Visitors are served by tech-powered facilities including the service from “Xiaoxin” – the bookstores shopping guide and the pleasant services of a lovely café corner.
The citys dizzying collection of fine bookstores sells more than books: it spreads the message that books and reading can bind lives as surely as any shared love and adds a cultural quality to the social fabric. Bookstores are one of the most prized possessions of Hangzhou - the Muse of the city; and the joy of reading is a tangible part of everyday life here.
“The future of bookstores will be geared toward the real needs of users; and the power of technology will be playing an increasingly important role in making bookstores a life necessity for all people,” remarks Wang Zhongyi, president of Zhejiang Xinhua Bookstore Group, the biggest bookstore chain in the province.