W & G Foyle Ltd. (usually called simply Foyles) is a bookseller with a chain of seven stores in England. It is best known for its flagship store in Charing Cross Road, London. Foyles was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest bookshop in terms of shelf length (30 miles (48 km)) and number of titles on display.
Why is it impressive? Well, coming from Trinidad and Tobago, and our tiny bookshops, covering possible half a floor, to one that covers 6 floors, is quite jaw-dropping. Over 200,000 books? Quite literally it's one of those landmarks of London which shouldn't be missed out on.
In his love of showmanship, 'the Barnum of Bookselling', William Foyle, called his emporium 'The world's greatest bookshop'. Over the past century the world has become a very different place and far be it from us now to make such bold claims, but what we can say for sure in this day and age is that few bookshops can claim such a rich and varied history and still retain the passion we have for books and the people who write, publish and, above all, read them.
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| By Tom Morris - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33726491 |
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| It was extremely difficult to take this picture, I suppose someone would have to save it and zoom in probably, but the lighting for taking a picture of this wasn't great, it was more of mood lighting than anything else. |
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| Taken from Timeout London's website on Foyle's (I really wish I had taken something like this, but when you're overawed by the vast number of books, looking for the perfect picture is secondary in nature.) |
The new Foyles flagship at 107 Charing Cross Road houses a range of over 200,000 different titles on four miles (6.5km) of shelves - the equivalent of lining one bank of the Thames with books from Battersea Power Station to the Tower of London. With 37,000 square feet of retail space, spread across eight alternating foot-plates over four floors, it is the largest bookshop to have opened in the UK so far this century. Alongside books, we have a wide range of gifts and stationery, magazines, printed music, classical music CDs and Classic and World DVDs as well as Ray's Jazz, Grant & Cutler Foreign Languages, a Cafe and an Auditorium. An impressive full height central atrium and large windows fill the space with natural light, while the layout allows for easy navigation and the serendipitous discovery of new books.
Foyles, which was founded in 1903 by brothers William and Gilbert Foyle, first opened on Charing Cross Road in 1906 and moved to its location at 113-119 Charing Cross Road in 1929. Declared by William Foyle to be 'the world's first purpose-built bookshop', it quickly became one of the capital's most well-known literary landmarks. William's daughter, Christina, built friendships with some of the leading writers of the time and pioneered bookshop author events, beginning a lecture series in the 1920s and founding the famous Foyles Literary Luncheons in 1930. The move to 107 Charing Cross Road in June 2014 marks a new chapter for the world-renowned, family-owned bookshop.
Interestingly, I had gone to their previous location 113 - 119 Charing Cross Road in 2010 and 2011, but going to their new location in 2017, I thought they did renovations/ re-modelling, totally oblivious to the fact that it was a whole other building!
Foyles employs more than 80 expert booksellers who will be happy to offer any help or advice you may need. Whilst these days most bookshops are stocked by books bought centrally from head office and distributed across the chain, at Foyles the heads of department are also our buyers, so they truly are experts in their stock and subjects.
From Timeout London (I totally agree with everything)
"If the old Foyles was a bookish uncle in a soup-stained cardigan, the new Foyles is a hip teenage cousin: ahead of the curve where apps and indie cinema are concerned, but sporting a pair of off-puttingly flash trainers. Foyles has always been one of those shops that trades partly on sentiment, with its labyrinthine layout, oddball-friendly café and loyal staff: Giles Armstrong, manager of the foreign languages department and Foyles' longest serving, had clocked up an impressive half-century on the payroll in 2015. News that Foyles was moving, and its much-loved café closing, was greeted with understandable dismay by Time Out readers, but standing in the vast, updated premises (just a couple of doors down from the old one, in the former Central Saint Martins HQ) it's easy to understand the decision.
Foyles CEO Sam Husain describes the new store as ‘a bookshop for the twenty-first century’, with 37,000 square feet of floorspace laid out immaculately by architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands around an impressive central atrium, and eight levels (four actual floors) packed with more than 200,000 books. Wherever you stand, you can see every part of the building, and the place is bathed in a gentle, contemplation-inducing glow. It’s light years away from the dusty nooks and crannies of the old building, and a bold visual statement of Foyles’s ambition and new image.
In the age of the e-reader and Amazon, punters need a good reason to visit a bookshop, and the new story has plenty. Books aside, the focus is on the social aspect of reading. A whole floor is dedicated to events, from readings by Michael Palin and Jarvis Cocker, to themed reading groups or literary tours. The swish new café is run by Leafi, the people behind Whitechapel Gallery's smart bistro, so expect something slick rather than homely. There's also a capacious art space curated by cultural innovators Future City.
There are no real signs of the building’s former life, although one was uncovered during the redevelopment, in the form of ‘a big wall that had been given a going over by some art students’, according to the shop’s manager. This is in stark contrast to the old premises, where expansion work turned up disused rooms and even lifts that no one knew anything about.
Foyles veterans may find the new store a smidge anodyne, but any business making such a gutsy statement in favour of ink and paper, and bringing the printed word to life in such a sociable setting, deserves an exciting new chapter."
Location and Opening Hours
Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, London,
Postcode - WC2H 0DT
The nearest Underground station to Foyles is Tottenham Court Road, which is on the Central line and the Northern line. Alternatively Leicester Square, which is on the Northern and Piccadilly lines, is a 5 minute walk from the shop.
Opening hours
Christmas Opening Hours Special opening hours which vary from year to year.
Monday - Saturday 9.30am - 9.00pm
Sunday 11.30am* - 6.00pm (*11.30am - 12.00 noon browsing only)
Café The Café closes 45 minutes before the shop.
To demonstrate the impressive range of topics that are covered, have a peek at the below listing. (Which is basically a reader friendly version of the sadly blurry picture above)
Ancient History/Archaeology/Civilisations: Floor 3
Art/Architecture: Ground Floor
Atlases/Maps/Travel: Lower Ground Floor
Audiobooks: Floor 2
Bestsellers: Ground Floor
Biography - see Popular Biography
Biology: Floor 3
Business: Floor 3
Cafe: Floor 5
Chemistry: Floor 3
Children's Books & Gifts: Lower Ground Floor
Classical Music/CDs & DVDs: Floor 2
Computing: Floor 3
Cookery/Food & Drink: Lower Ground Floor
Crime Fiction/True Crime: Floor 1
Design: Ground Floor
Dictionaries: Floor 4
DIY: Floor 3
Drama/Film/Plays/Theatre: Floor 2
DVDs: Floor 2
Earth Sciences/Geography: Floor 3
Economics: Floor 3
Education: Floor 4
EFL/English Language: Floor 4
Engineering/Technology: Floor 3
Fiction/Literature/Literary Criticism/Poetry: Floor 1
Foreign Languages/Grant & Cutler: Floor 4
Gallery: Floor 5
Gardening: Lower Ground Floor
Gender/Sexuality/GLBT: Floor 2
General Enquiries
Geography/Earth Sciences: Floor 3
Gifts/Cards/Stationery
Graphic Novels/Manga: Floor 1
Health: Floor 3
History/Politics/Current Affairs: Floor 3
Horror Fiction: Floor 1
Humanities: Floors 2 & 3
Humour: Floor 1
Jazz/Ray's Jazz: Floor 2
Law: Floor 3
Linguistics: Floor 4
Literature/Literary Criticism/Fiction
London Guides and City Writing: Lower Ground Floor
London History: Floor 3
Management: Floor 3
Manga/Graphic Novels: Floor 1
Maps/Atlases/Travel: Lower Ground Floor
Mathematics: Floor 3
MBS (Mind, Body & Spirit): Floor 3
Medicine/Medical Equipment/Nursing: Floor 3
Military History: Floor 3
Modern History/Politics: Floor 3
Music Books/Printed or Sheet Music: Floor 2
Natural History: Floor 3
Nursing/Medicine/Medical Instruments: Floor 3
Pets: Floor 3
Philosophy: Floor 2
Photography: Ground Floor
Physics: Floor 3
Plays/Theatre/Film: Floor 2
Poetry/Poetry Criticism: Floor 1
Politics/Current Affairs/Modern History: Floor 3
Popular Biography - titles are kept in related departments
Popular Medicine: Floor 3
Popular Music: Floor 2
Popular Science: Floor 3
Printed Music: Floor 2
Psychiatry: Floor 3
Psychology: Floor 3
Ray's Jazz: Floor 2
Reference Children's: Lower Ground Floor
Reference General: Floor 4
Religion/Theology: Floor 3
Sheet Music: Floor 2
Sport/Puzzles/Games/Hobbies: Lower Ground Floor
Teaching Resources/Education: Floor 4
Technology/Engineering: Floor 3
Textbooks/KS1,2&3/GCSE/A-Level: Floor 4
Theology/Religion: Floor 3
Transport: Floor 3
Travel/Maps/Atlases: Lower Ground Floor
Veterinary Medicine: Floor 3
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