Mao is very busy at the beginning of the new year.
To make matters worse, He, who often lives in Guangzhou, had a high fever just after arriving in Chengdu, which worried the whole team.
However, the most worrying days have passed.
2011110 In October, Mao, a well-known fashion designer and founder of "Exceptional" brand, opened a bookstore next to Hermes in Guangzhou, with an area of 1800 square meters. In the cold winter of physical bookstores, whether this move is "breaking the ice" or "burning money" has caused many controversies. Three years later, he handed over his report card-expanding against the trend.
2065438+200565438+1On October 29th, Chengdu Square, the largest private bookstore in Chengdu, officially opened. Chongqing in March, Qingdao at the end of the year ... Fang has left Guangzhou.
"A city needs a moving space and a warm space." Mao is concerned about the possibility of establishing public cultural space in the city. "I really don't just open a bookstore."
It's hidden in the city-
Two years of profit, contributing 10% of the passenger flow to the business circle, people will not be satisfied with eating and playing cards in their spare time.
On the afternoon of October 29th, 65438/KLOC-0, there were many famous shops in Taikooli, Chengdu, and the place next to Cartier was crowded with hipsters. With the opening of the 65,438+06-ton brass art installation "Ark", the guests who registered as members as early as during the trial operation entered the venue by escalator. "Reading Poetry with the City" and "Exploring Folk Art" with artists such as Zhu Zheqin and Huang Yongsong ... The activities on the opening day of Chengdu have already spread all over Chengdu's "Wenqing Circle".
Through the narrow and dark * * *, Taikoo Li is on the next floor, and there is a hole in the sky. Covered bridge bookshelves with an area of 4,000 square meters and a height of 8 meters, 100 meter, and more than 30 Gothic columns, which are integrated with Chinese wooden decorative style. Seeing that even the covered bridges are full of people, the reporter wondered: This can't be the normal state of bookstores, can it?
"Many poets, writers and artists were born in Chengdu. This city has a profound cultural origin, and people here love life more. " Mao appeared at the opening ceremony as scheduled and stated the reason why Chengdu was the "second stop".
But compared with "why", people in the industry are more concerned about "what will happen"-can you make money? Ms. Liao Meili, the director of operations, is resolute, yes!
As one of the founders of Eslite Bookstore, a cultural landmark in Taiwan Province Province, Liao Meili did market research before opening in Guangzhou. At that time, her peers told her that Guangzhou could only make tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of yuan a month to make such a large-scale bookstore. However, after the opening of the Guangzhou store, excluding non-book income, the bookstore's performance reached at least 6.5438+0.5 million yuan per month. Three years have passed, and now the performance has far exceeded this figure, and it has achieved profitability in two years.
Today, there are about three or four thousand people in Guangzhou on weekdays and at least seven or eight thousand people on holidays. During the trial operation in Chengdu, the number of people on weekdays is about seven or eight thousand, and the maximum number of people on holidays is 20 thousand.
"The big one is hidden in the city." Mao's right words sound happy-go-lucky, but behind them is stubbornness and unconvinced. "Why do our spare time always revolve around eating, playing cards, singing and shopping?" This prompted Mao to make up his mind to open a business district.
In the past three years, one party has contributed 10% of the passenger flow to Taikooli business district in Guangzhou. Not only did Fang get preferential rent, but also accumulated confidence for entering more high-end business circles in the future.
Not just books—
Give priority to literature and art, attach importance to imported versions, and unify the styles of various formats such as clothing and daily necessities.
In fact, the "mixed operation" of physical bookstores is not new. The high rent in the business circle makes physical bookstores daunting. In addition to selling books, it is easier said than done to "eat dry and squeeze clean" related industries.
Although our design taste is highly praised, the non-book products in more than half of the region also make people question that our company can only rely on non-book profits to maintain its operations. In this regard, Liao Meili revealed that the turnover of books in Guangzhou accounted for 35%. In Chengdu, books have accounted for half of the country: the sales area is 2000 square meters, with 6.5438+0.5 million copies, which are divided into four major book areas: Hong Kong and Taiwan, humanities and literature.
Liao Meili knows very well that teaching majors should also emphasize strategy. First, avoid books that are most vulnerable to the impact of the Internet. Because "music, poetry and art in Chengdu are quite active", combined with the positioning of bookstores and local cultural characteristics, the book structure in Chengdu is centered on art and literature. At the same time, according to the geographical characteristics of the southwest inland, the number of books imported by bookstores is as high as 40%. "Fan Wenqing II" and the niche route make Fang's books unique, and differentiated and characteristic books play a "long tail effect" to ensure sales performance.
In Liao Meili's view, books can be combined with diet and clothing. "The plasticity is very strong, which is the most fascinating place in the book industry."
Three or four roses, blooming in a three-dimensional glass cover, will never wither, just like the flowers carefully watered by the little prince; The original notebooks in Europe, the tin tea set in Japan, and the cotton and linen clothing of designer brands all reflect the intention of the store.
Even a variety of formats are ultimately attributed to Mao's unified "oriental aesthetics"-aesthetics and creativity, which can not only meet the needs of life, but also create the fun of life. This is not only the core idea running through mixed operation, but also the core demand of customers he firmly believes in.
Become the warm lamp of the city—
Become a public * * * cultural space for people to interact and meet in the entity.
"Dad, what do you think this is?" Four-year-old Yang Yang pointed to the educational toy beside the bookshelf and waved her little hand excitedly. In the innermost part of Chengdu, the covered bridge extends downward, and there is a circular "children's world"-a small house. Books and commodities are divided into slots according to age, and children's movies are being shown on the circular curtain wall. Mao said, "The taste of literature and art needs to be heard. I hope that many years later, Chengdu people still remember their childhood memories, just like the old locust tree at the head of the village when they were young, which is a common memory. "
"Time flies in the distance, you are in my palm, you are in my pupil ..." Mr. Qian, who works in the Internet, inadvertently pronounced, and the clerk smiled and pointed to the poem printed on the work clothes. "This is Yu Guangzhong's Mang Fu."
Mao praised poetry and humanity, and turned Fang into an experience field of cultural and artistic public space. High-quality cultural activities are essential. In the past three years, there have been nearly 300 cultural activities and 30 to 40 exhibitions in Guangzhou. Every time you sign a book or give a lecture, the audience must occupy a seat half a day in advance.
Public experience is the key to becoming a public cultural space in the city. In the eyes of China people, being critical of details is the embodiment of attitude. Li Jun, director of Chengdu Fangfang Southwest Region, introduced that Chengdu Fangfang's design concept is "legend". The spatial planning was changed to 100 version; There are strict regulations on lighting brightness in different areas of the site; On the light gray ground, the stars execute the trajectory, which is difficult to detect without looking carefully. "In order to choose' warm ash' as the floor, Mao Ji Hong squatted in the model room and picked it all afternoon."
Being picky about details can enhance the public experience. However, a realistic factor is that the high demand for lots makes the pace of opening stores destined to be slow and stable. Li Jun explained, "For example, we may ask the property to dig a foundation pit that meets the future design needs of the owner, which is difficult for the owner to meet."
People often compare Fang with Eslite. Mao did not hesitate to say that he hoped Fang could also become a cultural landmark of a city. "In the Internet age, I hope that people can communicate, meet and meet, which has become very important and precious. I want to leave this thing in physical space. "
Brief introduction of Fangfang bookstore information
2011165438+1On October 25th, the square bookstore jointly built by the domestic original designer brand "Exception" Bay Walking Culture Laboratory opened next to Hermè s Store in taikoo hui shopping mall. Fangfang covers an area of 1.800 square meters, integrating bookstore, aesthetic life, coffee, exhibition space and fashion. On the glass door of Fangfang Bookstore, there is a sentence from the poet Ye Si: "I hope to return to the era of more poetry reading:' The lyric hidden in the chorus that has gone with the wind needs to be listened to again.' This sentence well summarizes the business scope of the bookstore: it mainly deals in books on humanities, art, design and architecture, including 40 thousand books from Hong Kong and Taiwan, nearly 10 thousand books in foreign languages, and some mainland publications. There are special bookshelves such as "Party recommendation", "Media recommendation" and "Network opinion leader recommendation" in the store.