Bookstores × Food and Beverage Industry

Chapter 6: Multiplying with Bookstores (4)

The first thing that comes to mind is the food and beverage industry. Especially when coffee is served in a cafe-style format, it is often called a "book cafe." Even when we say "book cafe," there are shops that sell books and shops that only allow browsing, and there is a wide gradation in between regarding how much effort is put into the books versus the coffee. Also, when books are sold, there are shops where books before purchase can be brought into the cafe space, and shops where they cannot. Some limit this to certain products. The spatial balance also varies; there are shops where the bookstore and cafe are exquisitely fused, and many shops where a clear line is drawn, giving the impression that a cafe is simply attached to a bookstore. In addition to book cafes, there are also business formats that primarily provide a space and time for unlimited reading for a fee, with food and drink added to that. So-called "manga cafes" fall into this category, and if considered as a broad food and beverage industry, they are likely the most numerous.

In general restaurants, it has long been said that the cost of sales ratio is 30%. However, recently it is often said that 40% or more is the secret to success, and there is also a way of thinking where you mix in a "loss leader" product that exceeds 100% cost to make a profit overall, so it cannot be said unconditionally. In any case, the gross profit margin is higher than that of books, which is 70-80%. Therefore, it looks attractive to those who have been running bookstores for a long time. However, of course, there are labor costs for cooking, food loss is likely to occur, and since customers' eyes and palates are becoming more sophisticated, the competition is high. At the very least, if you are just serving coffee, you will inevitably compete with nearby coffee shops and cafes, so you must add some kind of value.

However, the compatibility between bookstores and restaurants is good. This is because in restaurants, many customers are looking to spend time slowly. There are probably many people who go to a cafe to read a book. They don't just eat and drink, but spend time reading a book slowly along with it. In that image, having many books also functions as a spatial differentiation for the restaurant.

One thing to be careful about, especially when selling books, is that the flow line at the entrance and the design of the facade are very important. In a restaurant, it is usually assumed that the moment you enter, you have the intention to eat or drink something and pay for it. However, in a bookstore, it is not necessarily the case that you will buy a book just because you enter.

In other words, depending on whether it looks like a restaurant or a bookstore at a glance from the outside, the customer's behavior will change. If you are thinking primarily of the bookstore function, or if you want people who are not using the food and beverage service to pick up books as much as possible, it is better to make the exterior look as much like a bookstore as possible. If the shop appearance makes people think it is a restaurant at first glance, no matter how many signs you put up or how much you call out saying "it's okay to just look at the books," it will become difficult for customers to enter.

One tip is to create not just bookshelves, but display tables in places that are visible from the outside. Especially in such places, if books are just inserted into shelves one by one, people feel that they are for browsing or decoration and perceive them as part of the restaurant's scenery. However, when multiple copies of the same book are stacked on a place like a display table, people feel that they are products. If you add POPs that explain the products, they will look even more like products. This is the same when multiplying with any other business format, so please keep this in mind.

On the other hand, if you are thinking primarily of the function as a restaurant, it must naturally be recognized from the outside that it is a restaurant. There is a big dilemma here. If you make it look like only a bookstore, only those who know it is a restaurant will come to eat and drink. Especially if the inside of the store is not very visible from the outside, it might be better to keep the area near the entrance looking like a restaurant and consolidate the books into a small corner next to the cash register so that they can be bought at the time of payment. Of course, you cannot expect much sales, but it is better than doing it half-heartedly. In any case, this is a case-by-case situation, and the balance is difficult.

Also, even after entering the store, you must design it well so that bookstore customers and restaurant customers do not get in each other's way. In the case of books and food/drink, it is difficult to make them completely equal, so it is better to decide in advance whether the main focus is books or food/drink. You must think about both the balance of sales and the balance of space, and assemble the whole thing.

Therefore, it can be said that a property with a wide frontage is more likely to succeed in fusion. "Kamome Books" in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, is a good example. The store has a wide glass facade facing the street, and on the left side facing the entrance, there is a coffee counter and cafe space, and the right side connects to the book space all the way to the back. In terms of balance from the front, it looks like 70% cafe and 30% books, but in terms of presence, they are perceived as being about the same, making it easy for both those whose purpose is books and those whose purpose is the cafe to enter naturally, and yet it does not feel divided and seems to be moderately fused and balanced. For shoppers who happen to visit Kagurazaka and the people who live there, the flow line for taking out coffee and walking, the flow line for sitting in a seat, and the flow line for browsing books are all natural, and as a result, it feels like empathy for Kamome Books as a whole is easily generated.

There is also a new business format that puts books at the center of the store's existence while primarily focusing on food and drink in terms of sales. The concept of "fuzkue" in Hatsudai, Tokyo, is "a shop where you can read books." What the owner, Mr. Takashi Akutsu, is pursuing is to be the best restaurant for reading books. In addition to coffee and alcohol, the food menu such as set meals is also substantial. Here, conversations and work that makes loud noises are prohibited, so there is no need to worry about noise. Also, a special pricing system is set where the menu changes according to the length of stay, so you can stay for many hours without feeling hesitant. Spatially, it is surrounded by books, and the books lined up in the store are the owner's collection, but only a few items are always purchased as new and sold, which are carefully selected books that the owner wants to convey the interest of. It is well known among some book lovers as a "bookstore" that manages the shop while pouring unstinting love into books, such as holding a "reading circle without conversation" and publishing the owner's vast reading diary on the website.

If we think a little more broadly, for example, a restaurant that has been operating near a bookstore for many years, where people who bought books visit to read them and spend a slow time, can be said to have played the role of a "bookstore" in a broad sense. It is a shop where reading books is pleasant, and watching other customers reading books makes you want to read more. For example, suppose there is someone who wants to become a "bookstore" and is thinking about multiplying it with food and drink. Even if they work out various plans, in the end, it is possible that for that person, running a restaurant near a bookstore where they don't even have to sell books or even line them up, but where they can enjoy having customers read books, was the ideal form of a "bookstore."

On the other hand, cases where existing new book bookstores are renovated and cafes are attached are also increasing now. There are many shops where books before payment can be brought in, and although they were shunned by the industry and some customers at first, they have spread considerably now, so I think there are fewer people who show a rejection reaction than before. As book sales become tougher, major distributors and large bookstore chains are also actively finding a way out there. However, even if they were used for their novelty and convenience at first, they will soon compete with excellent restaurants in the neighborhood. It is not a uniform way as a business model, but we must think carefully about the form required in that region one by one, and that requires love for the food and beverage industry. If you don't know anything about the food and beverage industry and are thinking of gaining profit from that multiplication somewhat easily, it is better to find a partner who has love for the food and beverage industry and work together, or try working at a restaurant somewhere yourself. Conversely, there is also a stance of not going that far and just serving coffee as a bookstore because it seems like you could spend a good time if you could drink it. In that case, you should not think of it as a source of revenue, but just start it casually with the feeling of it being an additional service. *Reprinted from "A Reader for Future Bookstores" (NHK Publishing) P207-P211