rip WH Smiths, I once spent years of my life trying to work out how much money the Telegraph was paying you to keep its print circulation artificially high by forcing everyone who just wanted to buy a bottle of water to also buy the newspaper, we've lost a giant of retailing - ThreadSky

jim.londoncentric.media • 6 days ago

rip WH Smiths, I once spent years of my life trying to work out how much money the Telegraph was paying you to keep its print circulation artificially high by forcing everyone who just wanted to buy a bottle of water to also buy the newspaper, we've lost a giant of retailing

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se13ed.bsky.social•6 days ago

also love that this marketing strategy led to them keeping all their copies of the Telegraph in the fridge - great if you need your newspaper ice-cold

martinavatar.bsky.social•6 days ago

Turns out keeping the Telegraph in WH Smith fridges was absolutely necessary for all those right-wing hot takes

ibemarkwilliams.bsky.social•6 days ago

The scorching polemic of Allison Pearson

jomarieoreilly.bsky.social•6 days ago

Dumped so many unread copies of the Telegraph in Stansted Airport because of this silly deal. Even if I wated to read it, it was too big to read on a plane.

nofixedagenda.bsky.social•6 days ago

I just hope TJ Hughes is half decent.

ahertfordlibdem.bsky.social•6 days ago

Hope over expectation and bitter experience there.

nofixedagenda.bsky.social•6 days ago

Well my expectations aren’t high but it would be nice if it still sold magazines, books, newspapers. Otherwise a lot of titles will be going out of business I fear. I’m no technophobe but I don’t want to spend my entire life looking at this bloody screen..

sd8974.bsky.social•6 days ago

They should have released this news on Tuesday...WH Smith becoming TG Jones...or PF Bloggs...or ME Brown...

kfpm.bsky.social•6 days ago

Always surprised me how it kept going. Like Woolworths, didn't specialise in anything in particular

jeremypattison.bsky.social•6 days ago

General retail worked in small towns with little to no competition. Online has stuffed that.

simonl.bsky.social•6 days ago

Well it used to specialise in being a newsagent. Now it seems to be a glorified sandwich shop.

kfpm.bsky.social•6 days ago

Last time I looked had even watered down the travel guide/maps section which uses to be decent. Also noticed the space between aisles has increased.

simonl.bsky.social•6 days ago

See also HMV, which has pivoted to selling mostly toys and t-shirts.

kfpm.bsky.social•6 days ago

Dinosaurs just waiting for the inevitable ending.

adaloveslace.bsky.social•6 days ago

This is my WH Smith, no not this particular outlet, but this branding and era.

WH Smith is where I went after school to tech myself programming on the shop floor Sinclair ZX81.

sportsbore.bsky.social•5 days ago

💅

comedywriter.bsky.social•6 days ago

I was once in a WH Smith in a leafy part of SW Surrey. Three of us - not known to each other - spent ten minutes wandering around trying to find a copy of the Guardian.

Eventually, we discovered a large pile of them stacked up in an out-of-the-way dark corner.

ahertfordlibdem.bsky.social•6 days ago

I remember when they banned the issue of Private Eye after Diana died.

comedywriter.bsky.social•6 days ago

And subscriptions apparently doubled.

bookseditorial.bsky.social•6 days ago

We're in the long shadow of the David Cameron chocolate orange strategy http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4580778.stm

jvdrieth.bsky.social•5 days ago

My daily stop in Paddington:
Paper
Botle of water
Maybe some chocolate

heatherhampson.bsky.social•6 days ago

The one single sad thing about WH Smiths’ demise is that the Paddington station branch had a huge range of magazines… very few places you can buy proper arty style and fashion mags now.

jim.londoncentric.media•6 days ago

Rail and air branches will remain!

heatherhampson.bsky.social•6 days ago

That’s good!

yatesyman.bsky.social•6 days ago

Free airport copy was the only time I've ever read it after the Black years

harry-is-human.bsky.social•6 days ago

When I was at university it was bars of Cadbury chocolate and very unfairly they wouldn't take the newspaper back after the purchase.

sdinpraxis.bsky.social•6 days ago

"Impulse buys". I'll hydrate and read biased nonsense at the same time.

ceefaxisbetter.bsky.social•6 days ago

I once received a copy of the Sunday Telegraph in the goodie bag after running a half marathon. 🤷‍♀️

oddballwoofwoof.bsky.social•6 days ago

I had that same thought about GT News and the copies of The Sun they kept trying to force everyone to take when you bought a packet of Polos for the train journey.

"What do you mean you don't want it? It's free?!"

andymccormick.bsky.social•6 days ago

I always paid extra to get the water without the fascist rag...

cchogan.bsky.social•6 days ago

I remember Smiths from years ago as hell to deal with. For small publishers of audiobooks on cassettes, children's songs, and books, they offered the worst rates, using their high street dominance to force suppliers to cut their prices. We had one retail at 4.99. They gave us 50p.

catus14.bsky.social•6 days ago

I assumed it was some elaborate tax loss fiddle, I couldn't see any other reason for making the shops so gloomy and unappealing.

jim.londoncentric.media•6 days ago

Businesses that decline on a flat line can be nice and profitable if you just keep cutting

catus14.bsky.social•6 days ago

Reached peak cynicism when I actually went to a branch to actually buy something they were actually advertising with a huge billboard, half blocking the pavement, to be told "We don't actually sell that". Was it code for a spy in the know? Did my face not fit? Were they incompetent? We'll never know

ian.spennys.world•6 days ago

Back in the 70s and 80s WHS was pretty reasonable quality, their own-brand stationery was pretty good and the staple of the school satchel. Their very 70s orange and brown branding was good in its day.

In recent years, they turned into a pile-it-high tat shop, the Toys-R-Us branding didn't help.

alison-23.bsky.social•6 days ago

As my first job after graduating, I worked in the Charing Cross Rd branch of a rapidly expanding bookshop chain. When the question came up 'Where is the best place to open a good bookshop?', the manager's answer was 'Opposite W.H.Smith.'

oldmanpeanut.bsky.social•6 days ago

I only go in to queue for Post Office in the stationary section, so am fully aware what happens to companies that pay high street rents to sell piles of scruffy tat alongside 20 quid Lever Arch files and equally expensive protractor and compass sets.

amblingaboutagain.bsky.social•6 days ago

I'd forgotten that. I remember the lady on the till trying to persuade me to take a free copy of The Sun (whilst purchasing Guardian): 'you don't have to read it, I use mine in my cat litter tray' 😁

j0nr.bsky.social•6 days ago

Obviously a badly organised, untidy, overpriced shop didn't survive.

julianshea.bsky.social•6 days ago

So, farewell then, #WHSmith,
Soon to be sold for £76 million, then vanish.
Will the buyers be offered a plank of Dairy Milk,
For an extra £1 at the till?
(WH Thribb)

are-we-home-yet.bsky.social•6 days ago

we didnt lose a giant of a retailer. It was a horrible disaster and over priced shop. really, good riddance.

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