Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活), which runs the Eslite bookstore chain in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, yesterday said it is planning to open its first store in Japan by teaming up with a local partner.
It would be the first time the company is active in a non-Chinese-language market.
Eslite Spectrum last year opened a subsidiary in Japan, but has yet to launch a retail presence.
Eslite Spectrum is to hold a news conference on Tuesday next week to introduce its Japanese partner and detail its retail plans in the country, the company said.
Eslite Spectrum opened its first store in Taiwan in 1989, and now runs 46 stores: 42 in Taiwan, three in Hong Kong and one in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
The company has evolved from a straightforward bookstore chain into a fusion retail model that combines bookstores, shopping malls and a cultural creative platform.
The store in Japan would serve as the beginning of the company’s cross-cultural development, the firm said, adding that it is studying the feasibility of entering Southeast Asian markets such as Malaysia.
Earlier this year, Eslite Spectrum chairwoman Mercy Wu (吳旻潔) said that the company had received requests from potential foreign partners to open stores overseas.
Wu said at the time that Eslite Spectrum could license its brand for overseas expansion, provide consulting services or open stores through partnerships.
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