Eslite Bookstore


Eslite Bookstore is one of the largest retail bookstore chains in Taiwan. It also provides one of the largest English language publications and translation materials in Taiwan. Its headquarters are in Xinyi District, Taipei.

Brief history

Eslite was established in 1989 by Robert Wu Ching-yu. The first shop was located in Dunhua South Road, Daan District, Taipei, with a focus and emphasis on art and humanities-related books. Since then, the company has expanded and set up more shops and increased its range of titles on offer. Eslite Bookstore was the first to set up a 24-hour bookstore in Taiwan at its Dunhua store, attracting night-time readers.
Eslite also expanded into retail, and opened up Eslite Mall.

Chronology

Eslite has a total of 38 branches in Taiwan. Most of its target market are in urban areas, such as Taipei, Keelung, Yonghe, Banqiao, Sanchong, Yilan, Zhongli, Hsinchu, Fengyuan, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung.
The first Eslite Bookstore outside Taiwan opened in Hysan Place in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong in 2012. It sold 706,000 books in 2014. The company opened a second Hong Kong location at Star House, Tsim Sha Tsui in 2015.
On 29 November 2015, Eslite Bookstore opened up its first branch in China in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

Related businesses

In July 2014, Eslite Hong Kong pulled Tibet-related books off its shelves out of political concerns. Taiwanese media reported that Eslite Taiwan issued an in-company document prohibiting its workers to make comments about the company on social media without approval.