Gone with the winds of change
China DailyXu Zhiyuan and Viya on the livestreaming. For brick-and-mortar bookstores, which were already gasping for life with the advent of e-commerce, the epidemic came like a sudden hard blow, pushing them to the edge of survival. Crippling blow In the era of internet and online shopping, offline brick-and-mortar bookstores hold little hope of making more profits than online bookstores, thanks also to the often huge amounts they pay for renting their fancy premises. For years, brick-and-mortar bookstores have survived because of the unique offline experience they offer readers: of choosing books to read or buy while also socializing in a public space. According to an online survey by China brick-and-mortar bookstore alliance Shumeng, 926 of the 1,021 offline bookstores, which are mostly medium and small-sized independent brick-and-mortar bookstores, had suspended their business by Feb 5.
History of this topic
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