Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Eslite Spectrum Corp., which runs the popular Eslite bookstore chain in Taiwan, on Thursday announced its 24-hour outlet located in Taipei's upscale Xinyi District will say goodbye to its fans on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, due to a failure to convince its landlord to extend the existing lease.
The Xinyi store started 24-hour services in mid-2020 soon after the Eslite Dunnan store was closed due to the expiration of its lease at the end of May.
The Dunnan store, also in downtown Taipei, had begun staying open 24 hours a day in 1999 after first opening in 1989, making itself the first 24/7 bookstore in the world.
According to Eslite, the Xinyi outlet recorded almost 200 million visitors since its opening in January 2006.
Before the closure of the Xinyi store, Eslite said it will host concerts and run a special book exhibition from Dec. 23-24 to refresh people's memories about its 18-year operation.
Eslite said the Songyan outlet, located in the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park also in Taipei, will succeed the Xinyi outlet to stay open 24 hours a day.
Eslite said the remodeling work at the Songyan store has been underway to expand the space by three folds to house books to a size which will be close to that of the old Dunnan store.
After becoming a 24-hour outlet, the Songyan store will accommodate a wide range of facilities such as an art gallery, cinemas, an art performing center, a phonograph record hub, a hotel, a wine cellar, a fashion hub and a venue for do-it-yourself experiences, making it a diversified cultural and creative platform.
Eslite said the new 24-hour Songyan store is scheduled to open no later than January 2024.
While the Xinyi store will be closing soon, Eslite opened another outlet in Xindian District of New Taipei in late September as the largest Eslite store in Asia. Eslite said the Xindian store has attracted more than 1 million visitors in less than one month.
Local media reported the Xindian store is expected to generate NT$4 billion (US$124 million) to NT$5 billion in sales a year, which will fill the void left by the Xinyi store, which posts NT$3 billion to NT$4 billion in revenue a year.
Market sources said the Uni-President Group, which owns Taiwan's largest food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp. and runs the 7-Eleven convenience store chain in the country, is the sole landlord of the Xinyi store.
The group is expected to transform Xinyi Eslite into a department store to extend the reach of the existing Uni-Ustyle Department Store, which is adjacent to Eslite Xinyi.
