WH Smiths to Sell all their Stores (to become TG Jones)

[arista]

Yes sadly Job Loses
on a New Announcement on Monday.


[WH Smith 'to sell ALL of its High Street shops'
in a massive deal 233 years after
opening flagship store]

[WH Smith is in talks to sell its
entire high street business in Britain
after 233 years.
The retailer, which is said to have a
total market value of almost £1.5 billion,
has secretly been in talks with
prospective buyers for weeks,
Sky News reports.

WH Smith, which sells stationary, books,
and is home to many UK post offices,
has around 500 stores in Britain and employs
5,000 people across the country.]


https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/25/10/94502661-0-image-a-23_1737801300382.jpg

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14324191/WH-Smith-sell-High-Street-shops.html


Complex Sale
because the Post Office
is inside many stores.


Life in The City.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Its a shame and it was a fave shop of mine for years but their stock is stuck in the 90s and no one bothers with high streets so much as stupid councils charge shoppers for parking. Also who ever thought the who PO thing was a good idea is a twat

[rusticgal]

WHS was my first employer….a Saturday job when I turned 16 at Brent Cross.

[MTVN]

All gone to pot for Smiths since I left a few years ago :omgno:

But the writing has been on the wall for a while unfortunately. Even just in my time I went through three rounds of redundancies. They were constantly cutting investment and reducing staff which allowed them to stay profitable - just - but wasn't sustainable.

Also the current CEO Carl Cowling has been pretty clear for a while that he doesn't care about the high street and only cares about the cash cow of travel stores. I think there was a chance for Smiths to be a bit better but they let competitors squeeze them out of pretty much every product category. Magazines are probably the only thing they lead on these days but there's no margin there. The store standards slipped so much as well because of the lack of investment but the prices didn't so it became a second rate retailer with premium prices.

It's sad because I still feel a lot of affection for the company. Even now whenever I go to a new town I have to check out the Smiths and those small shops in old buildings in traditional market towns can still be very charming places. Too many clowns running the show though

[bots]

i used to love shopping there but it just didn't move with the times

[arista]

i used to love shopping there but it just didn't move with the times


But they did put in Many Post Offices
which are needed by the public

[Crimson Dynamo]

but they did put in many post offices
which are needed by the public

not in town centres where idiot couicils charge to park

[arista]

There are a few in some Towns

[bots]

But they did put in Many Post Offices
which are needed by the public

there isn't a single smiths within 100 miles of me that has a post office in the shop, so i think it's an exception if they have a post office

[Crimson Dynamo]

there isn't a single smiths within 100 miles of me that has a post office in the shop, so i think it's an exception if they have a post office

my smiths with a po is 1.8 miles from me

[MTVN]

there isn't a single smiths within 100 miles of me that has a post office in the shop, so i think it's an exception if they have a post office

I think maybe about a quarter to a third had them, mainly larger stores in bigger towns. Most Smiths weren't really set up to have a lot of space taken over by a post office

Even still the post offices were busy but there's not much money in them. And they were generally run terribly

[Crimson Dynamo]

I mean have Post Offices had a good 10 years?

:skull:

[Cherie]

Shame, it was a shop I loved, but now will only visit if I am at the airport

[arista]

Train Station WH Smiths are more Busy

[Crimson Dynamo]

I stole my first magazine from Smiths

:sad:

[arista]

We Find out the Full details on Monday.

[arista]

I stole my first magazine from Smiths

:sad:


Naughty Kids

[arista]

I think maybe about a quarter to a third had them, mainly larger stores in bigger towns. Most Smiths weren't really set up to have a lot of space taken over by a post office

Even still the post offices were busy but there's not much money in them. And they were generally run terribly


Yes,
but many still need the Post Office.
It is all some old folks have


Rachel Reeves is on the 2 Shows
on Sunday Morning

[MTVN]

Yes,
but many still need the Post Office.
It is all some old folks have

Very true with all the banks closing. I think they will just move into other retailers though like some of the other supermarkets and convenience stores

I think a bigger impact will be all the magazines folding as Smiths is pretty much the only place which sells a lot of mags.

Of course they might yet find a buyer and all the shops stay open

[Crimson Dynamo]

i used to buy tons of magazines.I buy none now

[arista]

Very true with all the banks closing. I think they will just move into other retailers though like some of the other supermarkets and convenience stores

I think a bigger impact will be all the magazines folding as Smiths is pretty much the only place which sells a lot of mags.

Of course they might yet find a buyer and all the shops stay open


Yes Banks Closing

That's why many need the Post Office

[Cherie]

I stole my first magazine from Smiths

:sad:

on your tippy toes reaching the top shelf?

[James]

It used to be John Menzies where I live.

I used to buy a lot of magazines too.

I was in one recently and was quite surprised how little it, and it's stock has changed over the years.

[Benjamin]

I used to love back to school stationary shopping there.

[bots]

my guess is it will shrink to being a feature at airports and train stations. That's where the serious cash was earned. High street real estate is just too expensive these days with terrible footfall

[Mystic Mock]

I stole my first magazine from Smiths

:sad:

:joker:

Society is becoming more like Serial Experiments Lain by the day with announcements like this WH Smiths news.

Only watch one episode if you don't like Anime, as it will give you the vibe of what I mean.

[Ray.]

It's sad, but the sting is lessened for me on account of how we haven't had a Smith's round ours for probably the better part of a decade now. It got replaced by a Poundland a long time ago. Still, this will permanently close the door on many fond childhood memories of standing in the back of the shop and reading the likes of Lemony Snicket, and also fond teenage memories of bunking off school and hiding in that same aisle to avoid being seen. :laugh:

[Livia]

High Streets all look the same now, lined with big chains... Superdrug, Primark, Starbucks... It's hard to see any regional difference. Bad planning hinders independent shops too. In my local town there's a really nice independent pizza shop. Right next door, a Pizza Hut has just opened. Of course, as it's a big chain, it could afford to buy land at the rear of the store for customer parking. Guess which one's going to fold?

Trumpet's right when he mentions having to pay to park. Big supermarkets have free parking, that's where people shop. And they wonder why High Streets are dying.

[Dogeatdog]

I’ve always felt that WH Smith’s was a bit of a rip off. The prices for stuff in there are a bit mad especially the ones in hospitals.

[Crimson Dynamo]

High Streets all look the same now, lined with big chains... Superdrug, Primark, Starbucks... It's hard to see any regional difference. Bad planning hinders independent shops too. In my local town there's a really nice independent pizza shop. Right next door, a Pizza Hut has just opened. Of course, as it's a big chain, it could afford to buy land at the rear of the store for customer parking. Guess which one's going to fold?

Trumpet's right when he mentions having to pay to park. Big supermarkets have free parking, that's where people shop. And they wonder why High Streets are dying.

£4 to shop in town

f off

[MTVN]

They have been bought for the paltry price of £76m and are rebranding as TJ Jones :umm2: a name they've just made up thinking it sounds like a historic brand

Very naff, wonder how much they paid someone to come up with that

[arista]

Yes TG Jones

What will they sell?


Also,
can they keep the Post Offices
in them?

[bots]

they have retained the post office and Toys R Us in the stores going forward. WH Smiths have kept the stores at stations and airports where the money was being made