Bookshops are booming across the UAE and community is at its heart

Despite living more of our lives online, shops still champion the benefits of experiencing physical media

Bookshops have a 'vibe and soul' that can't be replicated by digital equivalents, say owners. Victor Besa / The National

The bookselling industry is a complex, evolving market. Research reports by IBIS World, Publish Drive and Statista, which each looked at varying factors impacting bookshops and sales in selected countries, similarly revealed that, despite retail challenges, the book industry has demonstrated resilience and continues to grow.

While we can analyse the industry in terms of books sold, net profit, genre trends, the influence of social media or the rise of physical media, there is an element that isn’t so easily measured or quantifiable, but one that certainly has an impact; bookshops and the power of community. In the UAE particularly, there has been a steady growth in creating an ecosystem for readers and writers through book fairs and literary initiatives. These fractions are not only heavily dependent on local bookshops but also on the communities connected to them.

“A bookstore is a commercial entity but all bookshops are also centres of the community,” Kinokuniya shop manager Steve Jones tells The National. “We’re entertainment, we're pop culture, we're the soul of Dubai and of Abu Dhabi. Both stores have that vibe where people come here, even if they don't want a book, as an event.”

With two shops, one in the Dubai Mall and the other in the Galleria in Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, Jones explains that an integral part of speaking to and growing the community is making readers feel that the bookshop reflects their everyday life and the world around them. Each morning Jones checks multiple news outlets to see what topics are trending and what people are talking about. He then changes the displays at the front of the shops to reflect the daily zeitgeist.

“We're constantly looking at what's happening in the world now and want to reflect that in the store,” he says. “News is our passion, predicting and listening to what people want is our passion, absorbing media is our passion and we want to show that in the books we have.”

TikTok books recommendation at Kinokuniya in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

Jones’s approach has paid off. Mostly, it seems reading and sales trends start in the US or the UK, trickling down to the rest of the world, but Jones has been mindful of trends that are born in this region. He references BookTok as an example.

In 2020, while at the Abu Dhabi shop, Jones was approached by a young Emirati woman who asked him to set up a BookTok section. Jones was unfamiliar with the phrase and, along with his team, researched the new trend. “We were online for hours just ordering because we could see how many views these book recommendations were getting,” he says.

Two months later, Jones set up a basic BookTok section in the shop. Due to its success, he went on to run a full window promotion the following year. Throughout 2021, many other bookshops around the world had noticed the trend and started adding BookTok into their marketing strategy.

“Is BookTok really a new idea?” Jones says. “It’s just a community coming together, people talking to each other about their passion for reading and books.”

Passion for books and reading is something Alex Warren, founder and owner of Zerzura Rare Books, also believes is integral for the growth of a bookshop and the literary ecosystem of a city.

From a customer wanting an early copy of a book on Kazakh poetry to someone collecting the first editions of the Bridgerton book series by Julia Quinn, Zerzura Rare Books in Alserkal Avenue specialises in hard-to-find prints and collectables.

“I'd say my bookstore is different because perhaps the primary purpose is not for people to pick up things they’re going to sit in bed and read,” Warren says. “It's for them to find something that's unique and special. It's more like going to an art gallery.” While Warren does say that most people who come to his bookstore know what they are looking for, there is also space for them to rediscover classics they may have read or to find something entirely new.

Zerzura Rare Books is in Alserkal Avenue. Antonie Robertson / The National

“You want to go in a bookstore and physically see things, discover things you haven't seen before, touch and feel them,” he says. “I also think the function of a bookstore is for people to come in and chat and learn some new things and also share what they know about the books they’ve read. It's like a knowledge exchange as well as a community.”

Warren has hosted talks, workshops and events with people from the literary community in shop as well as with local authors getting their books signed and selling them. He also says that bookshops create a space for young writers. “I know there are quite a few aspiring authors who come and work in our shared space,” he says. “They come and write here, and we've done two book launches here for local authors as well. It's nice – there are more people out there writing than you think.”

While online communities and digital movements have significantly influenced the publishing industry by boosting sales, Warren also sees how physical bookshops and the communities connected to them have their unique charm and are valued by people – especially in a city like Dubai. “Everything in Dubai is quite new, so people like to come and look at a book and say: 'Oh, wow, that's 150 years old,'” he says.

“With BookTok, I've noticed that, especially with people in their twenties, there is a little bit of a backlash against digital stuff – not saying people are putting down their phones, but there's a trend towards reading and physical books again.”

The desire for physical books and physical spaces that house books was the main driver for graphic designer Haifa Malhas to open her bookshop, Hobb, in 2022. Specialising in design and visual culture, Hobb started as a website in 2021, born out of Malhas’s frustration at the lack of diversity in design books in the region.

“At the beginning, it was quite good picking up sales online, but when we started doing pop-ups, people were waiting for those to happen which killed our online sales,” Malhas says. People were using the Hobb website more as a catalogue, taking screenshots of books they were interested in and arriving at pop-up events to see the books in person.

“Buying books is something you want to do in person,” she adds. “There's a sensory experience to it, the smell of a book, feeling the pages, there are people who come in and will touch the books. There's something very different with experiencing a book, versus reading everything online. It's not the same thing.”

Hobb bookshop specialises in design and visual culture. Photo: Hobb

After Malhas opened Hobb in Wasl Square, she noticed people find comfort in bookshops. Browsing through books, she says, is an experience that brings some people peace and helps them offload from the chaos of life. “I’m always saying that it seems like people have a bit of a sensory deprivation,” she says. “We do everything online and listen to audiobooks – you're never really experiencing the full depth of a book unless you're in a bookstore.”

Malhas elaborates that the bookshop's return to popularity is due to a sense of loneliness in some people, a result she believes comes from a global cultural push towards individualism. It’s not only connecting to a community of like-minded people, Malhas says, but books themselves can make people feel more seen and understood. “You're not buying books to learn something new. You're buying them to experience something,” she says.

“You are getting a bit of a person inside that book. If it's a matter of just getting information you can find it online, but the experience of a book is different. You're flipping through pages, you're looking at pictures, your senses are getting activated.”

A big part of the day-to-day running of the bookshop, Malhas says, is talking to people. It’s been a part of the job that has led to hosting several design meetups and events, including a visual culture club throughout the year “There's a community that goes on a bookstore because it brings like-minded people, especially when it's a niche bookstore,” she says.

“One function of a bookstore is education, yes, but comfort, somehow is another. Every community needs a bookstore – a bookstore feeds your mind and your soul.”