An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned . Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships , closely held corporations or partnerships , cooperatives , or nonprofits. Independent stores can be contrasted with chain bookstores , which have many locations and are owned by corporations which often have divisions in other lines besides bookselling. Specialty stores such as comic book shops tend to be independent.
22-644: Causeway Bay Books is an independent bookstore in Taipei , Taiwan , which until December 2015 was an upstairs bookstore located in Causeway Bay , Hong Kong . The first bookstore in Hong Kong was popular with tourists from mainland China looking for books on Chinese politics and politicians which were not available in mainland China . In late 2015, five people associated with the store disappeared , sparking international concern. The first bookstore closed after
44-486: A British citizen. The full facts of the case remain unclear, but our current information indicates that Mr Lee was involuntarily removed to the mainland without any due process under Hong Kong SAR law. This constitutes a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong and undermines the principle of "One Country, Two Systems" which assures Hong Kong residents of the protection of
66-614: A bachelor's degree in political science. Luo is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and served as legislative assistant to Chen Shui-bian between 1991 and 1994. After Chen was elected mayor of Taipei , Luo became the city government spokesman in December 1994. He left Taipei City Government in October 1997. Luo then served as spokesman for Chen Shui-bian's 2000 presidential campaign and in
88-582: A primary for the magistracy of Taipei County. The office was won by Chou Hsi-wei . During the 2008 legislative election cycle, Luo ended a bid for a party list seat in favor of a district seat, which he lost. In January 2019, Luo ended his political retirement of nine years and accepted an appointment as secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party. In 2004, Luo, Chen Chi-mai , Lee Wen-chung and Tsai Huang-liang proposed New Culture Discourse, which argued that Taiwan
110-572: A second version of the bookstore in Taipei , Taiwan , which opened on 25 April 2020., located on the 10th floor of a commercial building near the Zhongshan metro station . A few days earlier on 20 April, a company accused Lam of infringing on their trademark on the Chinese name for the bookstore (銅鑼灣書店), which Lam claimed was a fake bookstore opened elsewhere in Taipei to target his. On 21 April, Lam
132-618: The Legislative Yuan . He left the legislature for an appointment as minister of the Council for Hakka Affairs , from which he stepped down in 2005 to run unsuccessfully for the Taipei County magistracy. Luo was subsequently defeated as a legislative candidate in 2008. Luo returned to politics in 2019, when he was named secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party . Luo graduated from National Taiwan University with
154-623: The Straits Exchange Foundation . He is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party . Luo worked closely with Chen Shui-bian , first as Chen's legislative assistant, and later within Taipei City Government while Chen was mayor. When Chen was elected president in 2000, Luo joined the Executive Yuan as vice minister of the Council of Cultural Affairs . Between 2002 and 2004, Luo was a member of
176-894: The buy local movement and success in curation of interesting titles and hosting book-oriented community events. The market has bifurcated between consumers looking for a highly interactive experience at local stores and consumers looking for low-cost, high-selection stores where large chains compete with difficulty against online sales. In 2023 it was announced that about 17 businesses Vermont will donate their sales to help Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, Vermont and Next Chapter Bookstore in Barre . They include Bennington Bookshop, Bennington , The Book Nook, Ludlow , Norwich Bookstore, Norwich , Vermont Book Shop, Middlebury , and Rootstock Publishing, Montpelier. Two documentary films, Indies Under Fire (2006) and Paperback Dreams (2008), explore
198-558: The Hong Kong legal system. We have called, in our contacts with the Chinese government at the highest level, for Mr Lee's immediate return to Hong Kong. We urge the Chinese and Hong Kong SAR governments to reassure the people of Hong Kong that law enforcement in the Hong Kong SAR is exclusively the responsibility of the Hong Kong SAR authorities, and that the fundamental rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents will continue to be fully protected, and respected by all, in accordance with
220-534: The Joint Declaration and Basic Law." Up until the disappearances, the first bookstore maintained a stock of books for sale – in excess of 100,000 units – in two warehouses. One of the warehouses, containing some 45,000 books, was emptied according to the instructions of shareholder Sophie Choi, and one helper at the bookshop said that Choi ordered the stock destroyed in the hope that the return of Lee Bo, her husband, would be expedited. Lam Wing-kee opened
242-726: The United States dropped 40% from 1995 to 2000. In the 2000s, e-books started to take market share away from printed books, either published directly via the World Wide Web , or read on e-ink devices such as the Amazon Kindle , introduced in 2007. Amazon continued to gain significant market share, and these competitive pressures resulted in a collapse of the chain stores in the 2010s. Crown closed in 2001; Borders, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks were liquidated in 2010-11. A smaller Barnes & Noble, with its Nook e-reader
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#1732776859577264-469: The company had three shareholders: Gui Minhai (34%), Sophie Choi (34%) and Lui Bo (32%). According to industry sources, Mighty Current is a prolific publisher with a number of publishing subsidiaries, and this group may be responsible for 30 to 60 percent of the output of salacious books about Chinese political figures that are widely available at newsstands and book stores, including one at Hong Kong International Airport. In 2015, major figures associated with
286-408: The difficulties faced by U.S. independent bookstores in the new economy . The competition between chain and independent retailers was fictionalized in the 1998 film You've Got Mail . Luo Wen-jia Luo Wen-jia ( Chinese : 羅文嘉 ; pinyin : Luó Wénjiā ; Hakka : Lò Vùn-kâ; born 1 January 1966) is a Taiwanese politician who is the current vice chairman and secretary-general of
308-484: The disappearance of its last staff member, Lee Bo, in December 2015. A second version of the bookstore was opened in Taipei, Taiwan in April 2020 by Lam Wing-kee , the founder of the original Hong Kong store and one of the five people who disappeared. The first version of the bookstore in Hong Kong was founded in 1994 by Lam Wing-kee . Located on Hong Kong Island on the second floor of 531 Lockhart Road , Causeway Bay ,
330-496: The first bookstore disappeared, with some later confirmed to have been abducted by the Chinese government. In its semi-annual report on Hong Kong for the second half of 2015, the British Foreign Secretary said: "The unexplained disappearance of five individuals associated with a Hong Kong bookstore and publishing house has raised questions in Hong Kong. I am particularly concerned by the situation of Mr Lee Po,
352-544: The first bookstore occupied an area of nearly 300 square feet (28 m). In addition to general literary history books, the first bookstore also sold books on topics that are considered sensitive and therefore banned in China . Many mainland Chinese people that came to Hong Kong as tourists made a special trip to the bookstore to purchase books on politics. In 2014, Lam Wing-kee sold the first bookstore to Mighty Current Media Ltd., but stayed on as its manager. From September 2014,
374-533: The party urged its supporters to vote for candidates based on identification card numbers. In the proposed vote allocation scheme, Luo split support with Lan Shih-tsung [ zh ] , and was to receive votes from supporters whose identification numbers ended in three or four. Luo won election to the Legislative Yuan in December 2001. He was subsequently appointed as the chair of the Council for Hakka Affairs in 2004. He stepped down in March 2005 to contest
396-651: The role of literary salons and independents historically supported new authors and independent presses. For most of the 20th century, almost all bookstores in the United States were independent. In the 1950s, automobiles and suburban shopping malls became more common. Mall-based bookstore chains began in the 1960s, and underwent a major number expansion in the 1970s and 1980s, especially B. Dalton and Waldenbooks . Big-box stores also expanded during this period, including Barnes & Noble (which also acquired Texas chain Bookstop ), Borders , and Crown Books . Amazon
418-464: The same role for the Democratic Progressive Party. After Chen became the president of the Republic of China , Luo held the vice chairmanship of the Council for Cultural Affairs . In January 2001, Luo resigned the post to prepare a bid for legislative elections later that year. He became one of five Democratic Progressive Party candidates to contest a seat from Taipei 1 . During the election,
440-1373: Was founded during the dot-com boom in 1994 and exclusively sold books until 1998. By the 1990s, these competitive pressures had put independent bookstores under considerable financial pressure and many closed due to their inability to compete. Closures in the United States include Kroch's and Brentano's (1995) in Chicago, Gotham Book Mart (2006) in New York, Cody's Books (2008) in Berkeley , Kepler's Books (2005) in Menlo Park, Printers Inc. Bookstore (2001) in Palo Alto , A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books (2006) in San Francisco, Midnight Special Bookstore (2004) in Santa Monica , Dutton's Books (2008) in Los Angeles , Coliseum Books (2007) in New York City, and Wordsworth Books (2004) in Cambridge . The number of independent booksellers in
462-512: Was left as the only nation-wide chain, with the second-largest Books-A-Million operating in only 32 states. This collapse created an opening for the return of more independent shops. According to the American Booksellers Association , the number of independent U.S. bookstores increased 35%, from 1,651 in 2009 to 2,227 in 2015. A Harvard Business School study by professor Ryan Raffaelli attributed this increase to
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#1732776859577484-402: Was splashed with red paint and three suspects were arrested the next day. President Tsai Ing-wen sent flowers and a congratulatory note on the day of the Taipei bookshop's opening, and Legislative Yuan speaker You Si-kun and Democratic Progressive Party secretary-general Luo Wen-jia were in attendance. Independent bookstore Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take
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