Brussels, 20 September, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Brussels bookshops are adapting to changing reading habits, stronger demand for English-language titles and growing interest in specialist stores, with several significant developments reshaping the capital’s bookselling sector. Passa Porta has expanded, Filigranes is rebuilding its business from a new location, Le Refuge opened this month and Waterstones is preparing a second Brussels store.
Passa Porta Expands English-Language Bookshop
Passa Porta opened a dedicated English-language bookshop next to its existing Rue Dansaert premises in April. The additional store covers about 180 square metres over two floors, with fiction downstairs and literary non-fiction upstairs.
The expansion reflects a measurable shift in customer demand. Manager Ludovic Bekaert said earlier this year that English-language books had grown to account for about one-third of Passa Porta’s sales. The retailer consequently tripled the space available for its English collection.
Bekaert said the trend extends beyond Brussels’ international population, with younger Dutch- and French-speaking customers increasingly choosing original English editions.
“We notice that demand for English-language books has grown steadily in recent years, especially among young people,” Bekaert told BRUZZ.
The new space also includes seating intended to encourage customers to stay and read, while the original shop has gained additional room for children’s books, Dutch and German literature and poetry.
Filigranes Continues From Its New Location
Filigranes has undergone a different transformation. The former business went bankrupt at the end of 2024 before the bookshop was acquired by Mayfair and reopened on Boulevard de Waterloo. Most of its approximately 30 employees were retained, according to general manager Gregory Hankar.
The shop continues to offer around 150,000 titles. Hankar told The Brussels Times in a report published on 19 September that sales of English- and Dutch-language books had risen by 25% over the previous year.
Hankar also highlighted the financial pressures facing traditional booksellers.
“The business of books is tough because the margins are extremely small,” he said.
Filigranes is responding by emphasising staff recommendations, events and personal advice — services intended to distinguish a physical bookshop from online retailers.
Le Refuge Opens Specialist Bookshop
Another change arrived this month when Le Refuge opened at 11 Rue du Lombard.
Founder Camille Quintin has focused the shop on outdoor activities and nature, including hiking, cycling, sailing, skiing and mountaineering. Its collection also covers biodiversity, climate change, sustainable travel and women in sport, alongside travel guides and maps.
Quintin originally considered opening a general bookshop but decided Brussels already had many. She instead identified outdoor literature as a specialist niche that was not being fully served in the city.
Waterstones Prepares Second Brussels Store
The next major development is expected in October, when Waterstones plans to open its second Brussels store at 20 Avenue Louise.
The two-floor shop will carry books for adults and children as well as stationery, games and gifts. Waterstones’ existing Boulevard Adolphe Max branch opened in 1997, while the Avenue Louise location will be its first newly opened continental European store in nearly three decades.
The company said the new branch aims to “offer something for every reader” while serving Brussels’ established literary community.
The expansion, alongside Passa Porta’s larger English collection and Filigranes’ reported sales growth, provides fresh evidence of how Brussels’ multilingual character is influencing the city’s physical book market.
