SINGAPORE – Those who have raised alarm at the empty shelves and cardboard boxes in Kinokiniya’s Bugis Junction store: fret not.

The bookstore is not closing, merely moving to another unit on the same floor. Preparation works will, however, mean a temporary closure from Sept 15 to October 2025.

In a reply to The Straits Times on Sept 9, Kinokuniya said the move was necessary due to mall owner CapitaLand’s reconfiguration plans.

ST understands the shift is unrelated to rent. Kinokuniya has occupied the 03-09 unit at Bugis Junction, with a size of about 3,400 sq m, since the mall opened in 1995.

The new unit will be “slightly smaller”, according to Kinokuniya, which did not reveal specifics of the shrinkage. It is still working on optimising the space so customers can browse comfortably. The updated design will emphasise openness.

Kinokuniya added: “We will also be refining our product mix to better align with our Bugis Junction customers, while keeping the hallmark Kinokuniya experience intact.”

In the bookstore chain’s new Raffles City store which opened in July, this tweaking has manifested in a greater focus on crowd-pleasing gewgaws like exclusive stationery and cuddly toys out front, in the hopes of attracting people into a reading alcove deeper in the store.

Cardboard boxes at Kinokuniya in Bugis Junction on September 5.

ST PHOTO: ONG SOR FERN

The Bugis Junction store was also known to have more Chinese-language books and magazines. When the Raffles City store opened, patrons were told they could indicate what they would like to see more of so that staff could respond and calibrate over time.

At the Raffles City store opening, Kinokuniya’s vice-president of domestic and overseas business Keijiro Mori told ST recently that Kinokuniya would never be a run-of-the-mill stationery stall.

He took heart from his observations that people were making a conscious effort to spend less time in front of screens in Britain and the United States, which suggested the decline of physical books need not be inevitable in digitalised countries.

Kinokuniya currently has three stores here – in Ngee Ann City, Bugis Junction and Raffles City. In neighbouring Malaysia,a second outlet opened at Pavilion Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 4, giving the lie to doomsayers who condemn books as a dying trade.

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