Once St.Martin's School of Art now a palace to literature. Perhaps the best central London bookshop.
 
Foyles was founded in 1903 by two brothers, William Foyle (17) and Gilbert Foyle (18), in an unusual way that began with exam failure. The brothers failed their civil service entrance exams this lead to them selling their old text books form their mothers kitchen table. startled by demand.
 
They were still teenagers when they leased their first shop and had to negotiate the lease by correspondence to conceal their age from the landlord.
 
interesting fact...
When they hired their first shop assistant, the employee absconded with their earnings, forcing them to budget tightly and walk to work for weeks