Bookshops in Penang reopen, but many owners predict a tough road to recovery

 

Gerakbudaya Bookshop Penang, located within the Hikayat arts centre on Beach Street in George Town, welcomed customers on July 9 after the long hiatus. Photo: Gerakbudaya Bookshop Penang

Life is trickling back into George Town, Penang as bookshops in the heritage city reopen after more than two months in lockdown.

The state entered Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan on Friday (July 7) that allows for shops selling books and stationery to open their doors to the public.

Gerakbudaya Bookshop Penang, located within the Hikayat arts centre on Beach Street, welcomed customers on Friday after the long hiatus.

“To be honest, we open more in hope than expectation as George Town remains a ghost town. The centre of town is still very quiet and there is almost no foot traffic at all but we have to fight to recreate a sense of life and hope.

"There were a few browsers and customers in the bookshop on our first day, which is gratifying, and we sold some books in-store and took some new online orders. So, that was more promising than we dared to hope for, ” says bookshop founder Gareth Richards.

The latest round of strict movement restrictions has followed a tough year for the bookshop that saw a 42% drop in turnover sales in 2020 compared with the year before.

“All the various movement control orders – beginning with those in March 2020 to the current one – have created a very difficult environment for Gerakbudaya, as for nearly all small businesses.

"This year, the bookshops have been closed for 16 weeks out of a total of 27 weeks. Online sales have only very partially offset the loss of revenue from in-store sales, ” he notes.

Though relieved to finally reopen, Richards is holding his breath on what the future holds.

“One of the most obvious impediments to a sustainable recovery is that the whole bookshop ecosystem – the fact that we used to have book launches, talks by authors, book-related film screenings, and so on in partnership with Hikayat – is on pause.

"These events were very important to generating interest in books, authors and reading, and, as a consequence, they helped sales in a major way, ” he says.

Richards adds that as their income is now focused on covering rent, bills and salaries, there has been no surplus to invest in new titles.

On top of that, disruption to international distribution routes have also resulted in higher freight costs, putting new titles further out of reach for small bookshops.

A stone’s throw away on Lebuh Clarke, Tanjong Town Books Store also opened its doors on July 8.

The family-run business had just moved from its usual spot at the famous Lorong Kulit flea market to a permanent location in January last year.

“We sold books and electronics at Lorong Kulit for 25 years. Three months after we opened in George Town, we had to close!” says Muhammad Firdaus Abdullah, 57, referring to the first MCO that shut all non-essential businesses from March to May last year.

Offering secondhand books and classic books that date back to the 1800s, Tanjong Books has moved to online sales with some success.

“About 80% of our books are old books in Bahasa Malaysia and English and we put a lot of them up online.

"(Online) sales were okay last year but this year has been very slow. We definitely haven’t made enough to pay the rent but I have some savings and we have good friends and family who continue to support us, ” adds Muhammad Firdaus.

On Acheen Street, local publisher Areca Books is still waiting to reopen its bookshop.

“During the previous MCOs, we obtained MITI letters to operate our online business but failed to do so this time, so it is quite confusing.

"We are still applying for the MITI letter after five weeks and have no choice but to wait, ” says Khoo Salma Nasution, the Penang-based publishing house co-founder.

She says Areca Books had managed to release a new book – Diary Of A French Missionary: Penang During The Japanese Occupation – recently, which had received many online orders.

“We have not been able to send the orders out yet because without a MITI letter, we’re not allowed to go to the office, even though we have an e-business.

"We are eager to get back to fulfill our online and corporate orders. On the brick-and-mortar side, we will probably adopt a wait-and-see approach and adjust our bookshops’ business hours according to the traffic.

"We are grateful that our customers and partners understand our situation and are willing to wait for their orders to be fulfilled, ” she says.

Despite the hiccups and hardship, all the bookshop proprietors hope for better days in safer times.

“What I would like to see is people who used to read fall back in love with reading and for those who have never read much to discover its joys.

"I believe that any kind of sustainable recovery (in the country) will require fresh and critical thinking and that books and reading are among the best, most affordable and accessible mediums we have, ” concludes Richards.

On June 28, permission was given in Sarawak for stationery and book shops to reopen as one of the improvements made to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) implemented there.

On June 29, the Government was urged - by the National Student Consultative Council - to consider allowing book, stationery, computer and telecommunications shops nationwide to resume operations without having to wait until the movement control order under the National Recovery Plan (PPN) enters the second phase. - Star