Japanese Tsutaya Bookstore’s Chinese Branch Closes 3 Stores Within 1 Year

Tsutaya Tenjin Renheng Isetan store in Tianjin will officially close on March 31, marking the third closure of Tsutaya Bookstore on the Chinese mainland within the past year.

According to reports from Jiemian News, employees from Tsutaya’s first store in North China, the Tenjin Renheng Isetan store in Tianjin, have confirmed that the store will close at the end of March and will not reopen. Currently, both inside and outside the store, books are being offered at discounts ranging from 50% to 70%.

Tsutaya Bookstore (TSUTAYA BOOKS) is one of Japan’s largest bookstore brands. It entered the Chinese market in October 2020 and after opening its first store in Hangzhou, by December 28, 2024, Tsutaya Bookstore had expanded to 15 stores in cities such as Shanghai, Xi’an, Tianjin, Chengdu, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Beijing. Shanghai alone had three stores.

When Tsutaya Bookstore first entered the Chinese market, it announced plans to open 1,100 stores in mainland China, including 100 large stores under Tsutaya Bookstore (TSUTAYA BOOKS) and 1,000 small community stores under Tsutaya Bookstore (TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE).

However, with the recent downturn in the Chinese economy and the trend of reduced consumer spending, on October 8, 2024, Tsutaya Bookstore closed for the first time in China at the Maji Center store in Xi’an, the country’s largest store. On January 17, 2025, after operating for 3 years, Tsutaya’s Shanghai MOHO store also announced a temporary closure.

In addition to the three already closed Tsutaya stores, reports suggest that the Tsutaya Qingdao store and Chongqing store have also faced challenges in their operations. However, Tsutaya’s closures in China are not isolated cases. It is reported that in 2024 alone, ten bookstores, including Zhengzhou Yannian Bookstore and Zhong Shuge Chongqing store, popular among netizens, have closed down.