Bookstores fight back with novel business ideas_美文

Bookstores fight back with novel business ideas

"We don't expect sales volume during the night to match daytime levels," he said. "We just want to build a warm midnight reading environment for those who love reading."

A new job, book selector, has been created in the store to help readers design their own individual reading programs.

Dong said they will assess the reading habits of different people in their readers club. They will establish a system whereby they can see which category a new customer falls into, according to his or her reading preferences, and then recommend the most suitable books.

"All the ideas are meant to reconstruct an intimate relationship with readers rather than the traditional buyer-seller relationship and wake up more people to enjoy the fun of reading," he said.

A small bookstore-library named 2666 in an old Shanghai-style community in Jing'an district is famous among young people for its comfortable environment and collection of books.

"The books here might not be bestsellers, but they are unique," said Shi Jianfeng, who opened the bookshop with several friends last year.

An Internet user who uses the name "Caiyi" said the bookshop is one of her top options whenever she travels to Shanghai.

"I can buy some postcards with pictures of the city in the old days and write to my friends," she wrote on her blog. "I have also been surprised to find some new perfume on the bookshelves."