However, the increasing popularity of e-books and audiobooks and the economic blow brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has left these establishments shells of their former glory.

Unlike the clothing, jewelry and food stores in the upper floors that are jam-packed with crowds and bustling with transactions, customers rarely venture to the lowest floor of the shopping mall. Many kiosks have closed their doors permanently, leaving behind piles of dusty old books covered in tarp in front of their stores.

Umar Wirahadi Kusuma, owner of the Papat Limo bookstore, which first opened in 2010, said that his revenue had dropped by around 70 percent in the last decade.

“Indonesians in general have very low interest in reading books. Now with gadgets and everything, their reading interest has gone down further," Umar told The Jakarta Post recently. “Only hardcore booklovers visit my bookstore now, and they amount to less than 0.1 percent of Jakarta’s population.”

Another bookstore owner, Wiwik Latifah, who sells new, secondhand and rare books, shared a similar experience, saying that revenue had dropped by 50-70 percent, especially after the pandemic hit.

“When I first opened my store, Ziarah Buku, in 2009, I could earn revenue of around Rp 30-35 million a month. Nowadays it’s difficult to even reach Rp 10 million in any given month. On average we only have one or two visitors a day, and sometimes none at all,” she said.

Popular

Popular discontent is justified. Authoritarianism is not the answer

Recentralization concerns in fiscal, education heighten

Govt under pressure as 3 million home drive hits cracks