Page One (bookstore)
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Page One () is a
bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
chain and publisher founded in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
by Mark Tan (陈家强), with three branches in mainland China. Traditionally focused on English language books, it has recently expanded into the Chinese language market. There were branches which have closed in Singapore (2011), Taiwan (2015) and Hong Kong (November 2016).


History

Page One began in 1983, when a small shop stocking handpicked art and design books opened in a shopping mall in Singapore. The small shop accumulated a loyal following over the years and evolved into a brand. Since then, Page One has marked its presence with bookstores in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan. In Singapore, the Page One bookstore was established at
VivoCity VivoCity is a shopping mall located in the HarbourFront precinct of Bukit Merah, Singapore. It is the largest shopping mall in Singapore, with of net lettable area and of gross floor area spread over a three-storey shopping complex and t ...
, the shopping mall touted to be the largest of its kind on the island. While it began as a retail outfit, Page One has also expanded in the areas of book publishing and distribution over the years. In publishing, Page One builds its strength from the acquisition of rights and creation of original in-house titles, with a focus on art and design content. Page One Publishing also brought its created titles to the West by selling territorial rights. These titles have been translated into eleven different languages. As a distributor, Page One has established a strong network in Asia and the rest of the world. The chain managed to obtain approval for opening outlets in mainland China in early 2010s, and started reducing the number of political books stocked. No books deemed to be on sensitive topics are sold inside the country, except Hong Kong. In 2012, it closed its Singapore store located at
VivoCity VivoCity is a shopping mall located in the HarbourFront precinct of Bukit Merah, Singapore. It is the largest shopping mall in Singapore, with of net lettable area and of gross floor area spread over a three-storey shopping complex and t ...
. In 2016, shortly after the disappearance of five people linked to an independent Hong Kong book publishing house, the chain removed political books and books on sensitive topics from their store at Hong Kong airport. The company will stop selling these titles in Hong Kong once existing stocks have been exhausted, leading to criticisms from academics that this forced disappearance from bookshop shelves as a result of the case was blatant self-censorship. In 2017, Page One restarted operations in Singapore with a bargain bookstore at
The Cathay The Cathay is a mixed-use 17-storey cinema, shopping mall and apartment building located at Handy Road and Mount Sophia in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore. History Owned and managed by Cathay Organisation, the original building was open ...
.


Design

Mark Tan and his brother, architect Kay Ngee Tan (), uniquely incorporated Southeast Asian art into their stores. For instance in
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
, Vietnamese, Burmese and Thai etc., artworks were specially designed for the store, which customers could also purchase. Southeast Asian clothworks decorate Page One stores and the decor is changed every season. This design initiative brought about the rise of "giant"-sized bookstores in Asia.


Store locations

* China **Beijing Fun **Indigo, Beijing **The Square, Beijing * Singapore * Hong Kong (closed) * Taipei (closed)


References


External links


Page One Group
Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Page One (Bookstore) Bookstores of Singapore Book publishing companies of Singapore Bookstores of Taiwan Bookshops of Hong Kong Singaporean brands