IPOH, April 11 — After its success in Penang, the country’s leading remainder bookstore chain BookXcess opened its second outpost outside Kuala Lumpur in Ipoh today.
The latest BookXcess is different from all the other branches as it occupies a historic space in trendy Kong Heng Square, the former United Asian Bank.
The original architecture of the bank has been maintained; the vintage bank vaults and safe deposit boxes in the basement have been converted into bookshelves.
BookXcess founder and managing director Andrew Yap said they chose to open their ninth store in Ipoh following the massive response they received in the past holding the Big Bad Wolf (BBW) book sale here.
“Many of our customers requested that we set up a permanent store, and now, here we are answering their call,” he said at the launch of the bookstore.
“It is such an honour to be part of Ipoh’s rich history and beautiful architecture. With the opening, we hope to meet the demand for affordable books here,” he added.
Yap said that the newly opened bookstore is a collaboration between BookXcess and Kong Heng.
“It is not easy to open a bookstore as we can see a lot of bookstores are either downsizing or closing. There is no growth in the industry.
“That is when Kong Heng approached us and the collaboration eventually started,” he said.
Yap also said giving a unique feel to the bookstore will attract not only a new generation of readers, but also the older generation who have forgotten the joy of reading due to hectic lifestyles.
“Kong Heng Square is a famous spot in Ipoh and it attracts thousands of people, especially during the weekends, so having a bookstore in a bank vault will certainly attract them to visit,” he said.
Yap said the bookstore, which spans 3,000 sq metres, is stocked with over 15,000 books with 3,000 titles.
“Readers can find a wide variety of genres consisting of novels, science-fiction, thrillers, literature, young adult titles, business books, cookbooks and many other hidden gems,” he said.
Yap said BookXcess is also the only bookstore in the country to offer Augmented Reality (AR) books.
“These AR books are dubbed ‘magic books’ as they create an interactive reading experience for the children, where the characters in the books come alive in smartphones or tablets,” he said.
Other than books and pop-art, Yap said that the basement of the bookstore also accommodates the little Yasmin at Kong Heng Newseum, referring to the late film-maker and advertising icon Yasmin Ahmad’s collection of work.
“The museum is open to all BookXcess visitors. They can laugh, cry, love and leran as they watch the late Yasmin Ahmad’s best Petronas festive television advertisements and films.
“Visitors can also dive into Yasmin’s mind by going through her original Mac desktop where she typed in all her ideas. They can also read copies of her original movie scripts here,” he said.
Book lovers can enjoy affordable books at a discount of 50 to 80 per cent below the recommended retail price at all BookXcess outlets, with an additional 20 per cent discount on all books and non-book items until April 14 at this new branch.
“We feel that books shouldn’t be for the privileged, but should be accessible to everyone. That is why all our books are heavily discounted,” said Yap.
He said BookXcess is also looking for potential business partners in order to expand throughout Malaysia.
BookXcess Kong Heng is located at No.91 Jalan Sultan Yusuf here and opens daily from 8am to 10pm.
