It’s the end of an era for the beloved Kinokuniya bookstore at Liang Court. After 36 years, the outlet at the Clarke Quay shopping mall will bring down its shutters for one last time on Apr 21.
“With this decision, we seek to consolidate and channel our limited resources for better deployment amongst out other business units,” Books Kinokuniya Singapore noted. In other words, folks just aren’t buying enough books there to justify continuing operations at its Liang Court store.
Along with many other Japanese retailers, the store had been an anchor tenant since the shopping mall opened in 1983, and has seen through Liang Court’s refurbishments throughout the years. In fact, it was the first ever Kinokuniya store in Singapore and was then regarded as a Japanese bookstore for the local Japanese community.
While the main Kinokuniya store at Ngee Ann City remains very much open (albeit significantly downsized), fans of its Liang Court branch are dismayed to learn of its imminent closure. As Facebook user Claude Leow put it, the bookstore is beloved among Japanese readers (and Japanophiles) for its massive collection of books in the language. On top of having a “great bargain section,” he says.
Aside from its main store, only two other Kinokuniya branches remain in Jem and Bugis Junction.
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