Whether you’re a bibliophile or you simply enjoy wandering around bookstores, you may have heard that world-renowned Japanese bookstore chain
Tsutaya Books opened its first store in Malaysia back in July.
With two months left to 2023, you’ll be excited to know yet another book giant will be landing on Malaysian shores this year-end. Eslite Spectrum, a major bookstore chain in Taiwan, will be finally opening its doors at its luxurious address at The Starhill, KL. While they currently have 45 stores across East Asia including Tokyo and Hong Kong, this will mark their first flagship store in Southeast Asia.
The ground-breaking brand opened the world’s first 24-hour bookstore back in 1999 and CNN has previously listed its Japanese store amongst the
World’s Coolest Department Stores. Eslite Spectrum isn’t just any bookstore, it is a creative cultural venue that will feature exclusive brands from Malaysia and Taiwan.
Visitors can expect to find a carefully curated rich selection of books in traditional and simplified Chinese, English, Malay, and Japanese. Providing both quiet and active reading experiences for book lovers, there will be talks by popular writers and book exhibitions on different themes.
If you’re like us and like to buy pretty stationery for no reason, you can look forward to checking out over 100 classic and trending stationery brands from Europe, the US, and Japan.
Meanwhile, those who aren’t into books or stationery can shop for international fashion brands, participate in hands-on handicraft experiences or kick back and relax at their cafe.
For its grand opening, more than 30 arts and cultural activities are to be held at the store including music performances. Eslite Gallery, which has previously been invited to the world-renowned Art Basel International Art fair, will curate an art exhibition with well-known artists during its opening period.
Befitting of its Bukit Bintang location, Eslite Spectrum enlisted the help of Taiwanese architect Powen Hsiao –– who previously worked on Louis Vuitton’s furniture collection exhibition ‘Objets Nomades’ –– to design the store.
Inspired by the Italian novel ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino, the store will be divided into four sections with its own theme and style: ‘City of Arches’, ‘The Floating City’, ‘City of Rippling Waves’, and ‘City of Eternal Day’.
They have also worked with Malaysian design brand Loka Made to create an artist’s impression of the bookstore in a style that appears like hand-paintings.
Check out a teaser of their store at their pop-up appearance at the Pingmin Market from 5-6 November.
We can’t wait to visit it for ourselves!
Address: G36 & L1 01-34, The Starhill, 181, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Image credit: facebook.com/raymond.chong.9400, @eslitehk, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086137250802, @thestarhilldining, @hakken.hk, @eslite kuala lumpur
