Foyles

Our Heritage

Foyles was founded in 1903 by two brothers: when William and Gilbert Foyle failed their Civil Service examinations, they decided to sell their textbooks. Such was the response to their advert that they could have sold them many times over, so they determined to start a bookshop. The unwanted textbooks became the modest foundation stone of what was to become the world’s greatest bookshop. The business has been on Charing Cross Road since 1906 and is still privately owned.

In the last few years, Foyles has undergone a top-to-toe transformation: the entire shop has been refitted and, while our unparalleled range of books will always remain at the heart of Foyles, we’ve introduced some extra elements to make your visit even more enjoyable. Now, not only are there five floors of books with fifty-six specialist subjects, but we’ve installed new lifts and air conditioning, and there’s also an art gallery, a café, Ray’s Jazz shop and, in the children’s department, a piranha tank. We also continue to have a flourishing programme of events, and are proud to welcome an eclectic range of writers and to be the only port of call for many authors visiting from abroad.

We’ve expanded our range, too, and now offer a wide choice of magazines, first class gifts and stationery items, and in response to customer demand, are introducing a selection of second-hand books to complement our new book range. And because we’re proud of our heritage, we’ve even producing some unique Foyles-branded memorabilia. Some of these items are available here on the site, but do come into the shop to see the full range. When you visit, look out for the many photographs dotted about the shop showing some of the great moments and illustrious visitors from our history.

And now even bigger developments are taking place at Foyles. In June 2005, for the first time since our very early days, we opened another branch. Situated on the Riverside level at London's Southbank Centre, the shop stocks around 30,000 books across a broad range of categories.

In October 2006 we opened two bookshops within Selfridges in London's Oxford Street and Manchester Trafford, which run author and celebrity events as well as offering a wide range of titles. Then, only a year later, we opened another new shop, at St Pancras International, the terminal for High Speed 1 and Europe’s grandest ‘destination station’. And now we are looking forward to the opening of Foyles at Westfield London, the new 150,000 sq m development at White City due to open for Christmas 2008.

In May 2008, Foyles won two awards at the 2008 British Book Industry Awards, scooping Publishing News Chain Bookselling Company of the Year and Bowker UK Bookseller of the Year. Now, in June, we have been shortlisted for several Bookseller Retail awards: High Street Retailer of the Year, Bookseller Manager of the Year and Nielsen Book Campaign of hte Year. Watch this space for the results!

You can read more about Foyles’ history in "Foyles: a celebration" by Penny Mountain with Christopher Foyle. This is an affectionate, anecdotal, sometimes candid celebration of the first 100 years of a bookselling institution.

To visit the Press Room click here.