Foyles sales up during store refit

Famous bookseller Foyles has celebrated continued strong growth for the first quarter of the year.

Sales are running 12 per cent ahead like for like for the three months since December, as the 40,000 sq ft (3,715 sq m) store undergoes a host of changes.

Foyles chief executive Mike McGinley said: 'Sales in the quarter have accelerated during February and March.'

He added that a 50 per cent-off Sale on 5 per cent of product - the first Sale for two years - had boosted figures and helped to clear old stock.

The retailer has appointed Vivienne Wordley as commercial manager. She has worked as a marketing consultant for Foyles since 2001.

Wordley is responsible for buying and merchandising, and will be assisted by former Foyles shop manager Robert Palmer, recently appointed as product manager.

A replacement manager to run the store operation is now being sought.

'Our turnover (about£12 million) is not beyond the remit of a manager of a large retail unit,' said McGinley.

The landmark store on London's Charing Cross Road has just completed changes to the ground floor, opening out the entrance area by removing partition walls and reducing the size of pillars.

McGinley said a£500,000 makeover of the store will continue on the second floor in April, and will be finished by the end of August.