Bookstore x Furniture

Chapter 6: Multiplying with a Bookstore (10)

The miscellaneous goods mentioned earlier were intended to be displayed alongside books on bookshelves or display tables. But come to think of it, you can also put a price tag on those very bookshelves and tables—the store's fixtures and equipment—and sell them. In this section, I will call these 'furniture'.

Items you can handle include not only bookshelves and tables, but also chairs for customers to sit on and lighting to illuminate the store. Beyond what is typically called furniture, it is also possible to put price tags on things used as store equipment, such as audio equipment, projectors, and cash registers. You can sell the items currently in use as one-of-a-kind vintage pieces, or you can treat the items in the store as samples and sell brand-new versions. If you can create a distinct character, you could even try selling the wallpaper or paint that decorates the store. In other words, it is about viewing the bookstore as an interior design showroom.

Bookshelves, in particular, are meant to be used by putting books in them. However, in typical interior design shops, they are rarely displayed packed with a large number of books. In a bookstore, by filling them with books, customers can imagine how they would look in their own homes. Furthermore, while an interior design shop cannot stock that many types of bookshelves, a bookstore requires a large number of them, allowing for a wide variety to be shown. Thinking about it this way, from the buyer's perspective, it makes perfect sense for a bookstore to sell bookshelves.

At 'Bookstore B&B,' we partner with a Scandinavian furniture store called 'KONTRAST' to sell vintage bookshelves, tables, chairs, and more. Because these are one-of-a-kind items, selling them means they must be replaced, which is a lot of work. On the other hand, there is a benefit: when a bookshelf is sold, it creates a change in the store's space. When a single fixture is replaced, the atmosphere changes completely. Also, the process of taking the books out of the sold shelf and repacking them into a new one changes how the books themselves are perceived. It is strange, but even when you move the exact same books, changing the shelf can lead to different books selling than before. Selling bookshelves is also a good thing in terms of maintaining the bookstore's freshness.

*Reprinted from 'A Reader for Future Bookstores' (NHK Publishing), pp. 222-223