The Brussels bookstore Passa Porta is to open a new shop. The new shop that is next door to the existing Passa Porta bookstore on the Dansaertstraat in Brussels City Centre will be dedicated to English-language literature. The new shop will open on Saturday 4 April. With the opening of its new store Passa Porta will triple the number of English-language books that it has on sale. The bookseller says that the aim is for the new shop to be like a classic British bookstore.
Work on the building on the Dansaertstraat is nearing completion. Previously it housed the Paul Marius leatherwear store that closed at the end of last year. In 4 weeks’ time the English-language Passa Porta store will open with a festive opening event with live music planned 12 days later on Thursday 16 April.
The selection of English-language fiction will remain pretty much the same as in the existing Passa Porta store. However, the opening of the new shop provides the opportunity to greatly expand the selection of English-language non-fiction books available. The new shop is on 2 floors.
Passa Porta’s Ludovic Bekaert told the Brussel regional news site Bruzz that “The new Passa Porta won’t be like the existing one. We want to create at atmosphere that of a true English bookshop”.
This means that there will be more places to hang around and read a book. Downstairs there will be a big reading table with seats. Several seats will be provided upstairs too.
Poetry put more in the spotlight
Although the two Passa Porta bookshops will be next door to each other and will be under the same management, each will have its own tills. During the summer months the garden between the two shops will be used as a terrace.
The English-language collection moving to the new shop provides new opportunities for the existing store. Its children’s collection will be almost doubled, there will be more room for Dutch-language literature, and the German-language collection will be expanded.
“We will not necessarily offer more titles, but we will place greater emphasis on certain areas. For example, poetry will now be given a central and prominent place in the shop, whereas previously it was somewhat tucked away due to lack of space”