Book rental gaining fans ( 2003-09-15 10:01) (eastday.com)
Jiang Weijun, a university student, used to ask her friends to chip in with
her to buy glossy magazines that were too expensive for her budget.
But now she can save her breath. Jiang began to read the magazines at a very
low price by renting them from book-stores.
"These fashion magazines usually cost 20 yuan for one copy. Now I can rent
the maga-zine and keep it for two days for only four yuan," said Jiang.
Jiang is not alone. More and more locals, especially young people, have
changed to this new concept of reading with many book rental outlets flourishing
in the city.
The Star-Bookstore - a book rental chain from Taiwan Province - has opened
nearly 40 outlets on the mainland since 2001, half of which were located in
Shanghai.
Jerry Tsai, general manager of Star-Bookstore, predicts a bright future for
the business model in the city.
"Taiwan has a population of 20 million and it has more than 5,000 book rental
outlets. However, there are less than 30 such stores in Shanghai," said Tsai.
The age of the target customers of Star-Bookstore is between 16 and 25, who
are information-thirsty but with low purchasing power. Women account for 70
percent of the store's customers, he added.
In Taiwan, the content of the rental bookstore is usually composed of 70
percent comic books, 18 percent romance novels, 10 percent martial arts stories,
sci-fi and detective novels, while the rest is made up of magazines and
periodicals.
But things are different in Shanghai, said Tsai. Due to a short supply of
local comic books, the percentage of this genre has been adjusted to 25 percent.
Home deco and fashion magazines enjoy the highest rental rate at the local
outlets which has 6,000 books and magazines each, according to the
Star-Bookstore.
Besides chain stores, many local residents prefer small private rental
business in their communities.
"I don't think the big firm is posing a threat to my business. Compared with
the big Taiwan franchise book firm, our business is more flexible and has a
closer link with the neighbors," said Wang Yin, who opened a community book
renting business in Brilliant City, a residential complex in Putuo District.
So far, Wang's Chuju Book-shop has enrolled more than 300 members, most of
whom are community residents.
