TALENT

Running With It

Being Neighbourly x Bailey Cherry, Founder, ReBooked

Author/ Being Neighbourly
29 January 2025

Having an idea and running with it is an apt synopsis of the Bailey Cherry story thus far, and her founding of Rebooked, a bookstore selling pre-loved books for children and young adults.

Located on Mee Lun Street, an offshoot of Hollywood Road opposite PMQ, the shop stocks English-language books for children aged 0-16, including: board books, picture books, chapter books for primary and middle-grade students, young adult novels, non-fiction books, activity books and graphic novels.

“I first became interested in entrepreneurship at 14, after one of my teachers encouraged me to join a business pitch competition for middle school students,” shares Cherry. “I really enjoyed identifying an issue, creating a solution and the thrill of presenting new ideas. Following the contest, I participated in several entrepreneurship boot camps and programs, where my interest in business thrived,” she says.

At the same time, she shares, her mother was encouraging the whole family to de-clutter, and she realised that she had hundreds of children’s books that she had grown out of!

“I looked for ways to donate the books, but there were no adequate options at the time. After researching, I realised that waste—including paper waste—is a growing local issue. I also learned that the environmental impact of book production generates a staggering amount of carbon emissions, and in the US alone, is the equivalent of the annual energy consumption of over 150,000 households. I also conducted some market research among my peers and family friends: they also had books they no longer needed and would be open to purchasing secondhand kids’ books.”

Combining her interest in entrepreneurship with the issues she had identified, the concept of ReBooked, was born, and, soon after, the online and bricks and mortar shop, promoting a circular economy for children’s books in Hong Kong.

“When I first started ReBooked, I would have never imagined the community involvement and support it has been able to cultivate!” says Cherry, adding that she loves hearing donors’ happiness that their favourite books will be enjoyed again and seeing customers come back and donate the picture books they bought from them a year or two before. The bookshop also hosts events with local authors, illustrators and literary experts.

In each section, Cherry cites several titles as particularly popular: for picture books, Julia Donaldson and Dr. Seuss and Peppa Pig books. Regarding chapter books for primary-aged students, popular series include Geronimo Stilton (and all its spinoffs), My Weird School, Dog Man and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. In the Young Adult genre, she says Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Divergent and The Hunger Games are popular titles with their client demographic of families with children ranging in age from toddlers to secondary school. “Most of these families are based in Hong Kong full-time, though we occasionally get visits from tourists,” says Cherry.

“One of my favorite things to do is give suggestions to kids and families who are looking to branch out to new books and series. I love seeing young readers find joy in standalone books or titles that are not as well-known”

Cherry adds that apart from families, teachers come in to purchase books for their classrooms. “They really enjoy shopping at ReBooked because of its affordability.” Cherry estimates that about 60-70% are repeat customers.

“Our greatest expense is our rent on Mee Lun Street! Real estate is so costly in Hong Kong,” says Cherry, adding that they got very lucky because they started renting during the pandemic, so the rent was manageable.

However, along with the opportunities brought about by Covid were also challenges. “Before Covid, every time a book donor was interested in donating books, I would go directly to their doorstep to collect the books. Similarly, when books were purchased, I would meet up with the customer to deliver their order.“

She says that they decided to try using courier services to pick up book donations and use delivery services to ship orders out, decisions and that they still use this “time and cost-effective” solution to collect large donations from schools and deliver orders from their online shop.

ReBooked also works with schools and corporations to host book donation drives, setting up a donation bin at schools and offices where students or employees can drop off their surplus books. “Donation drives in collaboration with schools and companies have proven to be a great way for us to engage the local community and make it easy for people to donate books,” says Cherry.

“ReBooked has become more than just a bookstore —it has become a space that fosters a love for reading and an interest in sustainability. Serving the Hong Kong community in this way has given me the greatest pleasure,” she says.

What’s the best work advice you have received?

“My mom, Pam Cherry, has always been my biggest mentor, inspiration and support system —both personally and professionally, so a lot of my greatest advice has come from her!

A piece of advice has been to ‘just do it’ and not procrastinate. My mom really encouraged me to just go for it and try my hand at every opportunity— whether it be a big step like clicking ‘launch,’ on the ReBooked online shop, even though it was far from the perfect website, or pitching ReBooked at a community service project competition, cold introducing myself to potential partners or starting conversations about ReBooked with families that walked by our pop-ups. She taught me that it is better to do something, risk failure and grow from it, than put things off until everything is 100% perfect.”

ReBooked

1st Floor, 9-11 Mee Lun Street, Central