Founded in 1889, the family business has steadily flourished and counts today nine stores offering a wide selection of classic and best-selling literature; among these, fiction, children’s literature and non-fiction books on a vast array of topics in four languages. In addition, Ernster - L'esprit livre presents a finely selected range of games, gadgets and stationery products. The Ernster All English Bookstore even specialises exclusively in English books. The company’s commercial activities also include two cafés - attached to the larger bookstores at the Cloche d’Or and Belle Etoile shopping centres -, as well as an easy-to-use and efficient web shop.
In the past few years, Ernster has gradually increased its activity in the national publishing and distribution fields, supplying among others several local retail chains.
Fernand Ernster, who still owns and leads the bookstore chain to this day, not only managed to expand the business but was also able to make Ernster an institution and the market leader in Luxembourg. In 2018 and 2019, Ernster - L'esprit livre was placed at the very top of KPMG’s Customer Experience Excellence Center list of Luxembourg customer experience brands