EXCLUSIVE BOOK RELAUNCH - Rosebank Mall - Johannesburg

"Paperback Is The New Black"

It seems that reading, the organic sort that is – with a real book that you can touch and feel, is back in fashion. In recent years, Kindles and iPads have dominated the market: downloading a book has never been as easy. However, with the move towards technological reading there has been a counter-move back towards paperback reading. Real books have actually become fashionable. This was perfectly expressed by the new Exclusive Books store, which opened in Rosebank recently. Rosebank’s re-invention has seen many new stores opening as well as facelifts for some well-known stores that have been a staple of the centre for years. The new Exclusive Books store is awe-inspiring to say the least: at a time when it would seem that digital reading is the way to go, they’ve broken the mould and created a mega bookstore full of enticing reads. It felt like walking into a massive library as opposed to a bookstore when we arrived at the launch. 

Media stalwarts Jenny Crwys-Williams and Ruda Landman
added gravitas to the store opening.

The perfect combination : music, food and a good read.

There were books soaring up to the ceiling, wall to wall displays of fantastic reads ranging in size from small to massive: this is how a bookstore should look. Exclusive Books has always been at the cutting-edge of innovative store design and making reading accessible as well as fashionable for the consumer. This store is no exception. What would a good read be without a good cup of coffee? Exclusive Café is a tantalizing new coffee experience…

‘At Exclusive Café, we serve coffee artfully roasted for us by Legado Coffee, based near Stellenbosch. We have partnered with Legado Coffee as our purveyors because they share our obsession with perfection. We are serving our coffee in the contemporary style increasingly known as the third wave of coffee, which may be unfamiliar to many of our customers at first. The third wave celebrates coffee as an artisanal drink with the complexity of wine, rather than treating it as a mundane necessity.’

We love the word ‘artisanal’: it represents high levels of quality as well as all things bespoke. Just like well-crafted books and great coffee. These qualities are all the things Alan loves whereas Krishen is from the iPad generation tending to prefer digital convenience. Nonetheless, both of us can certainly appreciate a magnificent read – we’ll definitely be frequenting the new Exclusive Books Rosebank store! Especially now that paperback is the new black…