In one of the biggest sales the bookselling world has ever seen, Waterstones is buying the family owned Foyles bookshop chain in a move they say is designed to champion real bookshops in the face of online rivals.
The 115 year old chain has been in the hands of the Foyles family since the first bookshop was opened in London in 1903 by brothers William and Gilbert Foyle. The sale to Waterstones will include the entire chain including the well-known Charing Cross Road store in central London, which was famously relocated in 2014. The chain has 283 bookshops across the UK and Northern Europe and is one of the best known brands of bookshop in Britain.
After the brothers famously opened the first shop, it was run by the eccentric Christina Foyle for more than 50 years. She was famous for her madcap ideas such as sorting books by publisher rather than alphabetically, and dismissing staff after one year’s service. Her nephew Christopher Foyle took over the company and he welcomes the deal with Waterstones as it will protect Foyles against online competition.
Foyles has famously struggled in recent years and last year posted losses of £88,000. Hopefully this deal with Waterstones will save the famous bookseller, especially the Charing Cross store which features in several literary works including Graham Greene, Agatha Christie, John Le Carre and Ian McEwan.
The terms of the deal with Waterstones have not been disclosed, neither has the selling price but the deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, bringing an end to a century of family ties to this famous bookselling chain.
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