Buying Books

When the book superstores arrived it held on to its charm. This was because the Foyle family were deeply involved with the shop and many of them have worked there. At least one member of the family was almost always present, planning and proud of the shop. There was a kudos to be gained from even getting a job there.

Christina Foyle took over from her father William in 1928 and added much to the reputation by building a relationship with authors and personally serving (in the days when 'to serve' was a privilege) and also befriending customers such as Noel Coward, Graham Greene, Orson Welles, Ken Dodd, Denis Healey, Henry Miller, Somerset Maugham, Walt Disney, Marlene Dietriech and Queen Mary. She was nonetheless a business woman in a man's world. Like William Foyle she was controversial figure in the booktrade who despite what were called 'idiosyncrasies' and 'quirkiness' continued to build the business until she handed over to her nephew Christopher Foyle in 1999 shortly before she died.

It is their 'out of the ordinary' heritage that has made Foyles stand out from the many book superstores who are placing their bets on presenting modern norm in their chains. True, they have a lot of shops and sell a lot of books. The figures stack up. However, it is that inexplicable aspect of British Heritage that brings many millions from all quarters of the globe to take inspiration from the heart of London. The norm is everywhere.

It is also that aspect of Foyles that caused them to save two small cultural institutions who were squeezed out by draconian rates imposed by the local authorities in this area. Silver Moon (about Women) and Ray's Jazz were about to become extinct. They gave a home to them rather than buying them out and 're-branding' what they had built for many years.

The name and spirit of Ray's is continuing at Foyles in the cafe. This is an alliance "two of the great independent institutions of the West End". to quote Bill Samuel who went on to say "I Immediately thought that the blend of great Jazz, exquisite coffee, good food and the finest range of books in the world would reinforce our message that we are also unique, and have no intention, in this age of standardisation, of aping the bookselling chains' pursuit of uniformity".

Interestingly the Foyle family (Christopher and Bill Samuel) who now run Foyles also insisted that the wood used for the cafe was salvaged from local demolition sites. The construction and jointing methods employed are traditional - not one nail or screw. Yet the Jazz cafe has free Wi-Fi. In line with their modernisation Foyles have started a terrific service that we all think will eventually take a lot of business from Amazon by providing the Foyles ethos online.

Their approach seems to work on the bottom line as well. Foyles has moved into the twenty first century by opening another shop appropriately placed in the South Bank and complementing the the cultural centre that includes the Royal Festival Hall etc. Watch this space.

Check out the Foyles website