In a city with street-level newsstands every 200 metres packed with top selling magazines and newspapers and every other block boasting a 7-Eleven or Circle K (or both) with a strong newspaper and magazine story right at the front, it was a surprise to look down the entrance corridor to one office building on Queens Road, Hong Kong and see this sign for Bookazine.
Down the corridor and down a flight of stairs we entered the narrow door and were in another world. Besides small (by Australian newsagency standards) ranges of greeting cards and stationery, there was a good range of books and an excellent range of magazines. Bookazine is clearly a specialist in these two categories.
Their range of magazines was fanned out across shelves in two aisles with covers overlapping and only a small quantity of each title on display. This is a range story and not about volume. It is Long Tail retailing but without a massive distribution network.
Bookazine felt like a honey pot, drawing people in who really wanted to be there – to buy a book, a magazine, a card or stationery. In our brief time there, most browsers bought something. The staff sounded knowledgeable and, as you’d expect to see in a magazine specialist, they were working on the constant flow of new stock arriving.
The magazine category in Bookazine reminded me of Magnation, the NZ magazine retail model which opened in Melbourne a couple of years ago. Both businesses are not focused on the top selling titles as we are in newsagencies. They exist for the special interest title. This is why Bookazine can thrive in what appears to be an out of the way location.
They have built success, as has Magnation, around ensuring a broad range. To them, range is king. In newsagencies, I suspect because of how our model has evolved, many of us are not there in the range discussion – we need the volume titles to pay the shopping centre rent given that we are on fixed margin. Bookazine, because they are the magazine specialist, can charge a premium. This is where they can achieve a better return.
I left the Bookazine store thinking that we have too many full service newsagents in Australia. We have in almost every town, shopping centre and high street situation magazine specialists with a Long Tail type range but done in a way it does not feel special. Freer newsagencies with specialist grade ranges would help those focusiong on the top sellers to handle that well and those who truly specialise to handle that well. Right now we are in both worlds and have little control over them.
I found the honey pot approach to magazines in Bookazine is food for thought and am grateful for the time there.