Foyles

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Foyles

W & G Foyle Ltd. (usually called simply Foyles) is a bookshop at 113–119 Charing Cross Road, London, England. The business was founded in 1903 by brothers William and Gilbert Foyle; they moved to the current address in 1906.

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.

Foyles was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest bookshop in terms of shelf area and number of titles on display. It remains one of the largest bookshops in England. A place to browse, not only for Londoners but also for the bibliophiles among tourists, Foyles also trades on-line.

In the last century Foyles was famous (or infamous) for its eccentric practices, such as:

the arrangement of books on shelving by publisher rather than by topic or author
a payment system that required a book-buyer to queue twice (once to collect an invoice for a book, and then again to pay the invoice)
listing a telephone number whose only function was to play a recorded message that they did not take telephone calls
leaving unsold books on the shelves for years after they had gone out of print

However, after the death of owner Christina Foyle in 1999 and the passing of ownership to her nephew Christopher, Foyles' shop and practices have been modernized. This has undoubtedly made the store more efficient, but in the view of many veteran customers it has also robbed it of some of its charm.

Foyles is also known for its literary luncheons which have been held since 1930. In 2005 it opened a branch at the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank. In 2006 plans were announced to open further stores at Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London.

Foyles Chairman Christopher Foyle is also Chairman and CEO of aviation company Air Foyle HeavyLift.