W & G Foyle Ltd. (usually called simply Foyles) is a bookshop at 113–119 Charing Cross Road, London, England. Foyles was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest bookshop in terms of shelf area (30 miles/50 kilometres) and number of titles on display.[1] In the past, it was famed for its anachronistic, eccentric and sometimes infuriating business practices, so much that they made it a tourist attraction.[2] It has since become more modernised, including the establishment of an online store.[3]
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The business was founded in 1903 by brothers William and Gilbert Foyle. After failing entrance exams for the civil service, the brothers offered their redundant text books for sale and were inundated by offers. This inspired them to launch a second-hand book business from home.[2] Flushed with success, they opened a small shop on Station Parade in Queen’s Road, Peckham, where they painted "With all Faith" in gilt letters above the door. In 1904 they opened their first West End shop at 16 Cecil Court and a year later were able to take on their first member of staff (who promptly disappeared with the weekly takings). By 1906 they were at 135 Charing Cross Road, by which time they were described as London's largest educational booksellers. Not long later they moved into one of the buildings at 119 Charing Cross Road, where Foyles remains to this day. Part of additional adjacent buildings that they also acquired in Manette Street was the site of the Old Goldbeater's House.[4]
In 1945, control of the shop passed to Christina Foyle, daughter of founder William. It was under Christina that the shop stagnated, with little investment and poorly paid staff who could be fired on a whim.[1] She also refused to install any modern conveniences such as electronic tills or calculators; nor would orders be taken by phone. However, the shop excelled in other fields:- Expensive books ordered from as far off as Germany were sent with a bill without prepayment.
The store operated a payment system that required customers to queue three times: to collect an invoice for a book, to pay the invoice, then to collect the book, simply because sales staff were not allowed to handle cash.[5] Equally mystifying to customers was a shelving arrangement that categorized books by publisher, rather than by topic or author.[1] A quote of this period is: "Imagine Kafka had gone into the book trade." In the 1980s, rival bookshop, Dillons, placed an advertisement saying "Foyled again? Try Dillons" in a bus shelter opposite Foyles.
Foyles is also known for its literary luncheons, which were initiated by Christina Foyle in 1930. Speakers and guests of honour at these luncheons have included all the great literary figures, and celebrities from the world of politics, the media, the military and the theatre. They have included all the British Prime Ministers since the Second World War except Winston Churchill, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, some, such as Margaret Thatcher, several times, as well as Prince Philip, General de Gaulle, General Sikorski and the Emperor Haile Selassie.
The store now also holds a large number of evening literary events throughout the year.[1]
After the death of owner Christina Foyle in 1999 and the passing of control to her nephew Christopher, Foyles' shop and practices were modernised. Christopher Foyle was also, from 1978 until 2008, the Chairman and CEO of aviation companies Air Foyle & Air Foyle HeavyLift, was Chairman and later Deputy President of the Air League, was a Trustee of the Foyle Foundation, and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and a Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Essex.[6]
Whereas the shop used to sell second-hand and new books side-by-side on the same shelves, it now primarily sells books in print as do other large chain bookshops, but with a considerably larger range of titles on every subject. In addition, it now sells second–hand and out-of-print books together with new books in its Art, History and Archaeology Departments. The heavily weathered panelling of Foyles' past has been replaced by a red-plastic-with-grey-metal-and-beech interior. Most of these changes took place between 2003 and 2005.
In 2005 Foyles opened a branch at the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank and in 2006 Foyles was awarded the concession to run the book departments in Selfridges' London Oxford Street and Manchester stores, but these closed in February 2009. In February 2008 it opened the only bookshop in the newly refurbished St Pancras railway station, which became the Eurostar London terminal. Foyles also opened a branch in the enormous new Westfield shopping centre, which opened on 30 October 2008 in White City, West London.[7] It opened a new 'Booktique' store at London's One New Change shopping centre in October 2010.[8], and in 2011 opened its first out-of-London bookshop since before the Second World War, in Bristol. In October 2011, it will be opening its second Westfield Shopping Mall bookshop, in Stratford East London, adjacent to the Olympic Stadium.
Foyles has over 100,000 electronic book titles for sale on its website.
Foyles has earned the following awards:
| Charing Cross Road store | |
|---|---|
| Floor 3 | The Gallery, CDs - Classical & Jazz, DVDs, Music Books, Printed & Sheet Music, Ray's Jazz Music & Books |
| Floor 2 | Art & Design, EFL, GLBT, History & Politics, Humanities, Languages, Linguistics & Literary Criticism, Philosophy, Reference, Sociology, Theology, Toilets |
| Floor 1 | The Café & Ray's Jazz Stage, Computing, Cookery, Earth Sciences, Education, Foreign Languages (including Grant & Cutler) Engineering, DIY & Trades, Natural History, Sciences, Sport, Technical, Transport |
| Floor 0 (Ground) | Audio Books, Children's, Drama & Film, Fiction, Gifts & Stationery, Humour, Information, London, Poetry, Travel, Young Adult |
| Floor -1 (Lower Ground) | Customer Service & Order Collection, Business, health, Law, Medical, MBS |