United Kingdom based Foyles just won the National Bookseller of the year award and has made a splash at Futurebook. The company announced today that it is going to work with the Bookseller and the public to get feedback on what it should do with the new flagship bookstore.
At a time when the role of the bricks and mortar bookshop is changing, Foyles and The Bookseller are giving people the opportunity to re-imagine the bookshop for the 21st Century. Participants will be asked to engage with issues such as declining physical book sales, the place of ebooks, the cultural importance of bookshops and author events, the specialist knowledge of booksellers, and how bookshops can provide customers with a place to buy books, however they decide to read them. The results of this session will be made public, and those whose ideas are used in the new store will be notified.
Mercy Pilkington is live on the scene in London and sat in with a session with Foyles’s head of marketing, Miriam Robinson. She said that “Foyles is looking to find a model for mutual thriving between print and digital.” She went on to say that “Foyles wants input on its new stores. [The company] is open to ideas; looking to develop industry-beneficial ideas.”
Those who wish to suggest ideas for Foyles’ new flagship store can do so by emailing feedback@foyles.co.uk. They can also register their interest in the half-day workshop to take place in February 2013 by emailing bookshopworkshop@foyles.co.uk.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
