WH Smith in talks to sell its stores

[Cool Cory]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7zj8yr5x7o

WH Smith is in talks to sell its high street stores, the British retailer has said.
 
The firm said that it was "exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash-generative part of the group, including a possible sale" in a statement on Saturday.
 
It went on to say that over the past decade, the business had become "a focused global travel retailer", with its travel arm having more than 1,200 stores across 32 countries.
 
The first of WH Smith's more than 520 high street stores opened over 230 years ago, operating as a news vendor. It has since grown into a major high street and travel retailer.
 
The travel retail business side of WH Smith - which operates from airports, train stations and hospitals - now accounts for more than 85% of its profit. The high street business makes the rest.

 

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[Kyng]

I'm pretty surprised by this, TBH: although I use their shops at railway stations more, I do still use their high street shops quite a bit (and I make bigger purchases there when I do!).

If they are sold, then I hope whoever buys them does a similar sort of thing: it'd be a blow to lose them .

[Opal Fruit]

A lot of WHSmith's prices at railway stations and airport are so pricy. £500,0000 for a couple of sweets - no, thanks! Puts me off. They're not the cheapest, anyway - though occasionally can get a fair deal. Still, it is a useful shop to have (and no one else has the wealth of magazines) and it would be a shame to sell this well-recognised high street shop off.

[Shiny Star]

I still buy stuff from their railway shops. The stationary can be expensive compared to other stores though. I am surprised by this too.

[Cool Cory]

No sale has happened yet, but at  least half of WH Smith’s 500 high street stores could be closed by any new owner, industry experts say, raising the prospect of sweeping job losses at the ailing retailer:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/202...-new-owner

[Kyng]

No sale has happened yet, but at  least half of WH Smith’s 500 high street stores could be closed by any new owner, industry experts say, raising the prospect of sweeping job losses at the ailing retailer:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/202...-new-owner

Sad to see if that is indeed the case . I hope mine won't be among the ones closed, because I do still go there quite a bit!

[slooroo]

I suspect the issue is probably the same issue I have with a Books A Million or Barnes & Noble in the US: price. I'm a ferocious reader and I can't afford to pay $20 or more all the time for a book when I can go to Goodwill or Amazon or Thriftbooks or many other places to get gently used books so much cheaper.

[Kyng]

I suspect the issue is probably the same issue I have with a Books A Million or Barnes & Noble in the US: price. I'm a ferocious reader and I can't afford to pay $20 or more all the time for a book when I can go to Goodwill or Amazon or Thriftbooks or many other places to get gently used books so much cheaper.

Perhaps.

Admittedly, WH Smith's isn't exclusively a book shop (books aren't even the main thing I buy there!), but: a) books are an important part of their business (so if they're not making any profit, then that's going to be a major issue for them), and b) their other stuff is pretty expensive too .

[Cool Cory]

Well, a sale has gone through. But the stores will be rebranded to a new name:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3n3en7gppo

TBH, I don't like the new name. The problem the stores have is too many items being far too overpriced, rather than its name.

[Kyng]

Yeah, and the name honestly just sounds like a generic knock-off of WH Smith .

I get that they had to change the name because they only bought the high street shops themselves (and not any of the rights to the brand, which will still be used on the shops at airports and railway stations) - but, it doesn't fill me with confidence!