| I know a very successful and esteemed designer, | | | | booksellers for prices, so deliver to the customer |
| who is now of retirement age. I once visited him to | | | | something they can't get from Amazon or eBay - a |
| ask him advice on what to charge new clients and he | | | | comfortable, unique browsing experience that has |
| said, 'Find an amount that seems adequate, then | | | | created fans. He knows that the three-story store |
| double it - then they'll know you're good.' I was | | | | (and now two others in the city) has created a |
| reminded of this when recently I read a story about | | | | special brand in the minds of shoppers, and they are |
| a famous, old eccentric bookshop in London's West | | | | willing to pay full-price for the same books they can |
| End. Foyles Books has been around for over one | | | | get elsewhere for much cheaper. Does that sound |
| hundred years and they've managed to weather the | | | | crazy? Not if you go to the store - the 'experience' is |
| recession and actually turn a profit when other | | | | a memorable one, with helpful, quirky staff, a great |
| bookshops like the mega-chain, Borders, has died, and | | | | jazz department with an excellent cafe and the |
| Waterstone's is perilously close to kaput. | | | | sense of wonderment that accompanies the physical |
| Foyles appointed a new Chief Executive, Sam Husain, | | | | experience of being in a place that has really taken |
| in 2007, who took the opposite approach to the | | | | the customers into account. Nothing 'virtual' about |
| larger chain stores and refused to join the discount | | | | Foyles at all, and that's their strength. |
| circus, saying in The Guardian recently, 'If you sell too | | | | The idea of 'just make it cheaper,' has really been |
| cheaply you are going to have to compromise | | | | tested during this credit crunch. And for the most |
| somewhere else.' And ultimately that compromise | | | | part, brands that have stayed true to their vision |
| ceases to make the experience a special one for the | | | | have won out. The idea of keeping your core identity |
| customer. He then went on to add that customers | | | | intact, while finding creative ways to expand beyond |
| have said how happy they were not to see those | | | | that, has proven to be the best medicine for tough |
| 'outrageous discount signs in the window.' | | | | times. Just ask Sam Husain. |
| Husain realizes that they can't compete with online | | | | |