2015 The Bookseller Special Award
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WINNER: FOYLES
IN THE SUMMER of 2014, Foyles moved its flagship bookshop in central London to the former St Martins School of Arts building on Charing Cross Road, located less than 100 metres away from its premises at the time. The move gave Foyles—and the wider book trade—the opportunity to think and reimagine what a modern bookshop could be. As part of the process Foyles—with the help of The Bookseller—engaged the trade and canvassed their own customers.
The move was a pivotal moment not just for the iconic London bookseller, but also for the wider book business. The relocation captured the imagination of everyone interested in bookshops, including—among many others— media such as the Guardian, the Telegraph, BBC Radio and “Newsnight”. Most importantly, the Foyles store team managed the relocation without any discernible interruption in trading or service,
The relocation captured the imagination of everyone interested in bookshops
and used the reopening to run a three-week festival with authors including Sarah Waters, Simon Armitage, Hilary Mantel, Michael Palin, P D James and Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman. For investing in the future of bookselling
through the relocation of an iconic bookshop business, while collaborating with customers and the trade; and for doing so as part of a wider conversation about bookshops at a time when high street retail needed revivification, Foyles is the winner of The Bookseller Special Award.
Ahead of its move to a new premises (top and top left), Foyles held workshops attended by trade professionals and
bookshop customers (above) to explore what the bookshop of the future should look like.
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