KINGSTONE CULTURE SQUARE
Established in 1983, Kingstone Bookstore is the oldest chain store in Taiwan. Over the past 23 years, Kingstone has not only been operating more than one hundred physical bookstores but has also established Digital Kingstone, an online bookstore, to serve Chinese book readers worldwide. To provide better, more efficient service, Kingstone has also built up its own merchandising and distribution center, Kingsmond Book Co., Ltd.
KINGSTONE BOOK CO., LTD
Kingstone’s founder, Tu Su Chou, had originally planned to build up a library in his original factory of textile business; however, after encouragement from many friends in the publishing industry, he decided instead to establish a bookstore. This bookstore, Ting Chou Main Store was not only the first of the Kingstone chain, but was also the first of a new age of bookstores in Taiwan.
The first store was a great success. In May 1984, Kingstone opened its first branch, located on Chung-Ching South Road, Taipei’s “Traditional Book Street.” This store shocked its dark and cramped neighboring bookstores with bright lights, open space for customers to move, and new concepts such as the Bestseller Lists. With steady growth, Kingstone now has over 90 branches all around the island of Taiwan and a store in B.C. Canada.In 1998, Kingstone began organizing its franchise business. With its experience in opening chain stores, Kingstone provides tools and consulting services for those interested entrepreneurs willing to open franchise stores. The first franchise store opened in May 1999. Through this program, Kingstone hopes to entice more people with a passion for books to ultimately create a society of readers.
Books and Magazines are the most important products at Kingstone. Kingstone features more than 3,000 new titles every month and 600,000 books in print, including select foreign language publications. In addition to books, Kingstone sells stationery, greeting cards, multi-media products and gifts items.
The mission of Kingstone Bookstore is to be a professional bookstore that provides every customer with an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Business Philosophy of Kingstone Bookstore is Learning, Innovation, Focus, and En-team.
KINGSMOND BOOK CO., LTD.
In order to better serve all the stores, Kingstone established Kingsmond Book Co. and built up its own 10,000 sq-meter merchandising and distribution center. Kingsmond focuses on having the highest quality products at the most competitive prices and on efficiently distributing these products to every store.
DIGITAL KINGSTONE CO., LTD.
In December 2000, Kingstone extended its business into Internet. Digital Kingstone Co. was established to operate Kingstone’s online bookstore, www.kingstone.com.tw. Brand awareness, reliability, and experience in logistics inherited from its parent company are the key competitive advantages for Digital Kingstone. The website expands Kingstone’s customer base worldwide.Online bookstore now has more than seven hundred thousand members. "My bookstore" is a special feature that our online bookstore offers, in which members can open and operate their personalized bookstores.
Furthermore, in order to create the synergy of physical and online bookstore, Kingstone initiates a customer order system. The idea is to use the huge variety of book stock at online bookstore to serve customers who cannot find some books at Kingstone’s physical stores.
