Online second hand bookstore takes its message of sustainability to new audience with pop-up in Hong Kong

Bailey in her pop-up sustainable bookstore in Hong Kong.

‘Inspirational’ is the only word for Bailey. 

Her company, reBooked, is a not-for-profit social enterprise that collects and resells second hand books in the name of sustainability.

The thing is… Bailey is only 15 years old.

So when she approached Storefront to help her find a venue for a pop-up store in Hong Kong we were honoured to accept.

Bailey created reBooked in 2019 when she couldn’t find a way to sustainably dispose of her much loved children’s books. Not wanting them to go to landfill she realised she could give them a new home by redistributing them second hand online.

Fast forward to 2020 and reBooked is thriving. The next step was to run a short-term physical store (a pop-up store) to broaden her reach and let more people know about the website.

The process is simple – book donors let reBooked know they have some old books they want to move on and someone pops round and collects them. The books are then put on the online platform where they can be purchased. For every 10 books someone donates they get a credit for a free book on the platform.

The goal of having a pop-up shop was to raise awareness and provide a short-term focal point for reBooked.

Storefront found the perfect venue above a shop on Hollywood Road in Hong Kong. The pop-up store ran from July 27th to August 2nd and was a great success.

Bailey said: “It was so great to be able to get out and meet our customers and raise awareness for reBooked. I’d definitely say it was a huge success.

“I first started reBooked as I wanted to find a home for some of my favourite old books. I didn’t want them going to a landfill but couldn’t find an easy way to redistribute them. 

“There was a lack of services in the market to make secondhand books really accessible to families. So I decided to create an online shop. 

“I’m so grateful I met Franck from Storefront. He was very responsive from the start and I felt that he understood our needs. As a young entrepreneur and this being our first stand-alone pop up, I really appreciated Franck’s guidance. I’m so pleased with Storefront’s professional services.

“The pop-up store was the next step in growing awareness. We’re a not for profit organisation so the more people who know about us the better. We’ll definitely be looking at more pop-up stores in the future and would recommend it to anyone else in a similar situation.”

Franck Vonachen, from Storefront, said: “We were absolutely delighted to assist Bailey in finding a venue for her pop-up store. It is galvanizing to help an organisation like reBooked take its first steps into physical retail.

“We were able to quickly find Bailey a pop-up store venue on Hollywood Road. It suited her needs perfectly not only in terms of location and size but also because we were able to negotiate a short-term lease with the landlord. This model benefitted the landlord as well as it allowed him to generate revenue and traffic to his shop during the epidemic.”

 Mohamed Haoauche, Storefront CEO and founder, said: “When you hear stories like Bailey’s you remember why we do what we do. Yes, we work with large brands and huge institutions, but we don’t forget that Storefront is about making retail more accessible and opening doors to ideas. Indeed, Storefront is made for entrepreneurs and business owners looking for ways to start their businesses or scale them up.

“reBooked is such a positive example of what people can achieve when they believe in something. We’re proud that Storefront is positioned to be able to help people like Bailey and organisations like reBooked.”

If you’re looking for a space for a project in Hong Kong have a search on the Storefront platform.