New KINOKUNIYA Flagship Store in NEW YORK

This is a photo of the holiday window display of the new KINOKUNIYA flagship store taken from the inside. Kinokuniya, the largest bookstore chain in Japan, opened a 24,000 sq.-ft. flagship store last fall in New York City. Kay Ngee Tan Architects designed the bookstore, which occupies three floors and include a café overlooking Bryant Park on the Avenue of Americas between 40th & 41st streets. The new store is Kinokuniya’s largest U.S. outlet (a title previously held by the 13,700 sq.-ft. bookstore inside New York City’s Rockefeller Center that opened in 1981). 

Kinokuniya’s philosophy is that bookstores should function as centers for the promotion of culture and the arts, and not merely as outlets for selling books. “The new store will focus on Japanese arts and culture; Anime; fashion and cooking,” said spokesperson Brent O'Connor. The new store carries books, magazines, comics, DVDs and CDs (in both Japanese and English) as well as stationery, candy and collectibles.

The Kinokuniya bookstore chain is operated by Kinokuniya Company Ltd.