Foyles to stock e-readers, launches e-book store
29.10.09 Katie Allen in The Bookseller

London independent Foyles is to stock e-readers for the first time as it launches its own e-book store. The Foyles London stores will stock the Sony Touch Edition and Pocket Edition, as well as the BeBook Mini, which has a five-inch screen, in-store and online. The Mini comes with 100 free classic titles.
Foyles has also launched an e-book store on its website, stocking 57,000 titles in e-pub and pdf formats. The e-books will be supplied by Gardners which will set the prices, with percentage discounts offered on chosen titles by Foyles.
The BeBook will be sold at a special launch price of £159 until approximately the end of the year, £20 off the r.r.p. Meanwhile the Sony 
Touch and Pocket will be sold for the r.r.p. of £249 and £179, respectively. With the purchase of an e-reader, customers will also receive a free e-book of their choice to the value of £10.
Foyles c.e.o. Sam Husain, said: "Our ethos has always been ‘Foyles for Books’, and now we can add to this with 'however you choose to read them'. We are excited by the opportunities to expand the life of the book through technology and we are particularly pleased to offer the BeBook Mini at this competitive price. The extensive range of e-books already available through Foyles online will 
also grow as more titles become available in the e-pub and pdf format."
It was revealed this week in a KPMG-commissioned YouGov survey of just over 1,000 consumers that 4% of the British public have read an 
e-book in the past month.