In Nanjing, the only company that can compete with the pioneer bookstore in terms of popularity is the popular bookstore. Popular Bookstore is a time-honored chain bookstore brand, which originated in 1927 and was called Popular Bookstore Xingyinguan, and was no longer used after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 2003, the Dazhong Bookstore brand was reactivated, and today, Dazhong Bookstore has stores in many cities in Jiangsu Province and Shanghai.
The Nanjing flagship store is located in the Xinjiekou International Trade Center, and in 2013, the store was relocated to the Sinopharm Building. With a total area of about 6,000 square meters, the Chinese pharmacy has three floors and a collection of 100,000 books, including literature, social science, economics and management, art and other types of books. It is worth mentioning that the bookstore has classified these bestsellers into five categories: Chinese literature, foreign literature, social science, economics and management, and life. Popular Bookstore also has areas such as the Hong Kong and Taiwan Imported Book Fair, this month's New Book Fair, and the bestseller list. Most of the Hong Kong and Taiwan Imported Book Fair features classic books or film and television books, such as "How to Read a Book", "Life of Pi", "Charlotte's Web", etc., while the bestseller list showcases the top 100 books sold by bookstores.
Among all the books in the popular bookstore, literature occupies the majority. Literature is divided into Chinese literature and foreign literature according to the nationality of the author, the former is subdivided according to the author, and the selected books are mostly from modern and contemporary classic writers, such as Lu Xun, Shi Tiesheng, Jia Pingwa, etc., and the latter is classified according to the country. Popular Bookstore has set up some writer-themed booths, which change from time to time, and each booth has a brief introduction to the writer and his main works. In addition to setting up categories according to different types of books, popular bookstores also have special publishing house bookshelves, including the Commercial Press, Yilin Publishing House, People's Literature Publishing House, etc. A self-service inquiry system is set up in the bookstore to facilitate readers to search for books.
Popular Bookstore organizes activities from time to time, including writers' meetings, writers' book signings, themed book fairs, public welfare salons, parent-child story meetings, book giveaways, etc., in a variety of forms. The bookstore has invited celebrity writers such as Ma Boyong, Shi Zhongshan, and An Ruyi to come to the scene to communicate and share with readers face-to-face. The activities held in each store are different, and the official account of the bookstore will publish a preview of the event, so readers are advised to pay attention to it in advance.
Popular Bookstore has opened a number of stores in Nanjing, and there is not much difference in decoration design between the stores, but in comparison, the number of books in the collection of Chinese pharmacies is more impressive, and the variety is more complete, while the offline activities of Xinbai Store are richer, and these two stores are recommended to move forward. As a bookstore, Popular Bookstore still has some shortcomings, such as a shortage of reading places, not many cultural and creative products, a noisy environment, and a large number of salespeople in the bookstore.
