It really is nice to read a local book-business success story.Christy Yong today in Starmag interviews the CEO of Malaysian online book (and now much else!) retailer Acmamall.com which offers over a million titles.
Christopher Quek reports that the company is doing very well indeed with a 150% increase in its Malaysian customer base this year alone.
He appears to be tapping into the huge regional and rural market, with 80% of the customers living outside the Klang Valley. Now the company plans to expand into other Asian countries and is looking for partners.
Borders has opened its third bookstore in the Klang Valley, and it’s fourth in Malaysia, at The Gardens in Mid Valley City. Daphne Lee interviews Datuk Francis Lee (right) director of franchise holder Berjaya Books who says:When we decided to bring the Borders experience to Malaysia, we wanted to ensure that the stores would not simply be a space filled with bookshelves and checkout counters. ... Borders is about a lifestyle, and families love to visit the store because of the large space, the comfy seats, and the wide variety of books on offer. We also have CDs and a café so there is something to suit every taste.He also makes a big deal about the unwrappedness of the books to enhance browserbility ... but as we have seen before on this blog, this is something that book lovers have mixed feeling about.
(Mind you, I've recently bought a couple of defective books which were shrink wrapped, so do check your purchases carefully wherever you buy them, and be cheeky enough to ask for a discount if you still really want to buy a less than perfect copy.)
This seems a good place also to add a note that Popular has added a new branch in Sunway Pyramid and another at Aeon Bukit Tinggi.
