公館學英文｜Nightclubs for literature? 誠品的迷人處讓CNN告訴你 @ TOEIC,TOEFL,IELTS,全民英檢,SAT,菁英英日語-公館分校

在台灣，幾乎無人不知誠品書店 Eslite

許多國外觀光客也慕名而來

享受24小時都可以購書與看書的優雅樂趣

美國CNN特別介紹台灣的特色之一－誠品書店

讓我們來看一看在外國人的眼中，誠品到底哪裡迷人呢？

While some people are slowly walking home through the neon-lit streets,or getting ready to hit the club scene, others are on their way to a more unusual nocturnal hangout -- a bookstore.

充滿霓虹燈光的夜晚街道，人們漫步在回家的路上，有些人準備去club狂歡，

而有些人，則選擇了一個特別的夜晚活動－書店。

The Eslite store in central Taipei opens 24 hours and has more night owl visitors than most Western bookstores could dream of during their daytime hours. Here, young and old sit side-by-side on small steps or around reading tables, deeply engrossed in literary worlds.

位於台北市中心的24小時書店－誠品，夜貓子遊客的數量比西方國家還要多。

在這裡，老老少少並坐在走道或是閱覽桌周圍，陶醉在文學的世界。

Others stand and some sit on the floor, all reading in hushed silence as soft classical music seeps out from the speakers.

有人站著，有人坐在地板上，大家都沉浸在閱讀裡，一片寧靜，

只有廣播器播放著輕柔的古典音樂。

Trend dodger 躲過低潮

The Eslite Group, opened its first branch in Taipei in 1989. Today, 25 years on, the company runs 42 stores in Taiwan,one in Hong Kong and has ambitious plans to expand in China.

The chain's rise comes at a time when bookstores in the United States and Europe are struggling to survive, with some forced to shut down due to growing pressure from online competitors like Amazon.

In the United Kingdom, a third of all independent bookstores have closed down in the last decade, according to the Booksellers Association.

And the last major book retailer in the U.S. -- Barnes & Noble -- is shutting stores as its management struggles to meet the challenges from its digital rivals.

Eslite has hit upon a concept to dodge this trend -- making the store as much a place for books as it is for design, fashion and home styling, small cafes and restaurants.

It reported revenue of around $425 million in 2013, with books accounting for some 40 percent of sales, according to company spokesman Timothy Wang. Sales are expected to increase by almost eight percent this year.

誠品集團，1989年在台北開立第一家分店。至今經營了25年，該公司已擁有42家分店，其中還有一間在香港，並且持續計劃要在中國擴張。

當時因為網路的競爭對手崛起，例如：亞馬遜，美國和歐洲的書店經營日愈困難，有的甚至因此被迫關門。

根據英國的書商協會統計，在過去十年中，英國已有三分之一的獨立書店倒閉。

而在美國的最後一個主要的圖書零售商- Barnes & Noble，因為數位對手的競爭，造成管理鬥爭，也正在關閉當中。

而誠品突發奇想了一個躲避低潮的方法－把書店打造成一個有設計感、時尚、家庭風格的小咖啡館和餐廳式的地方。

據公司發言人Timothy Wang指出，誠品2013年營收約為4.25億美元，書籍佔銷售額的約40％，今年銷售額預計增進了8％。

Hipsters and bookworms 潮人與書蟲的聚集地

The mix of literature and design has made the store a hangout for hipsters as well as bookworms, allowing the company to shrug off the challenges of the digital age.

"It is our belief that the more digital the society (becomes), the more we treasure the warmth of the interconnection," Wang says.

"This core idea makes Eslite barely impacted by the changes of the industry."

In some stores, books and products are displayed next to each other at the same table.

The 24-hour store at Dunhua Road has five floors, each dedicated to different categories, like fashion, music, food or events. The top floor is all books.

文學書籍融合了書店獨特的設計是它成為潮人和書蟲的聚集地，這使得公司避開了數位時代帶來的挑戰。

發言人說：我們相信，當這個社會變得越數位化時，人們會更珍惜人與人之間的溫暖和聯繫。這樣的核心理念讓誠品幾乎沒有受到產業變遷的影響。

在有的店裡，書和產品被一起陳列在同一張桌子上。在敦化路的24小時營業店裡有五層樓，每一層致力於陳列不同種類的書，比如時尚類、音樂類、食品類或事件類。最頂層則是綜合類的書。

Counter-intuitive 反直觀行銷

Eslite's success may seem counter-intuitive especially when it seems most late-night visitors treat it like a library, leaving empty handed after hours of free reading.

Eslite's Timothy Wang claims that the business is successful because it creates "a friendly environment" and " treats books as well as the visitors with great hospitality."

誠品的成功似乎是反直觀的，尤其當深夜的拜訪者把它當成圖書館，下班後兩手空空地來到這享受免費的閱讀。

誠品的Timothy Wang稱其成功的原因是書店創造了一種”友善的環境”且”熱情地對待來這的所有人和這裡的書籍”。