WH Smith name to disappear from High Street after sale

The name WH Smith, a staple of UK town centres since the Victorian era, is set to disappear from the High Street after the firm agreed to sell its shops to Hobbycraft-owner Modella Capital.

The new owner has said it will keep the Post Office outlets that operate in many branches, but will rebrand the High Street chain as TGJones.

The WH Smith name is not being sold and will still be used at the airport, railway station and hospital outlets that are also not for sale.

Modella Capital will take over 480 stores in retail parks, shopping centres and on High Streets including 5,000 staff.

The new owner said it would be “business as usual” while it worked on making changes to the store chain, including adding new ranges, while keeping the Toys “R” Us concessions and the 195 Post Office counters.

Modella would not comment on whether jobs would be cut following the takeover. However, retail analysts said they expected the private equity firm to look closely at the performance of the stores it has bought.

Modella specialises in retail and consumer businesses. As well as buying Hobbycraft last year, it has invested in Crafters’ Companion and The Original Factory Shop.

It said it had chosen the TGJones name because it carried “the same sense of family” as WH Smith, which it described as an “iconic” retail business.

WH Smith’s first shop was in Little Grosvenor Street, London and the company became the country’s principal newspaper distributor.

It opened its first travel retail store in London’s Euston station in 1848. It then expanded rapidly in the post war years and broadened the range of goods on sale.

In the 1970s, it leant into the style of the era with a new brown and orange logo.

From teenagers stocking up on flashcards, pencil cases and other back-to-school items to shoppers browsing for a birthday card or magazine, art supplies, photograph albums, or sweets, for decades WH Smith successfully appealed to a broad range of customers.

As Britain ushered in the era of the personal computer, WH Smith continued to draw in new customers, keen on experiencing the very latest technology in the 1980s.

But in recent years it has been challenged by budget High Street shops and supermarkets as well as online retailers.

Trading under its more recent blue and white logo, it developed a reputation for being run-down and shabby, culminating in a popular social media account WHS_Carpet, which mocked the poor state of its floor coverings.

WH Smith group chief executive Carl Cowling said the £76m sale, was “a pivotal moment” for the company, which would now focus exclusively on the travel-related side of the business.

“High Street is a good business; it is profitable and cash generative with an experienced and high-performing management team,” he said.

“However, given our rapid international growth, now is the right time for a new owner to take the High Street business forward.”

The travel division operates more than 1,200 stores in 32 countries.

Nicholas Found at the consultancy, Retail Economics, said WH Smith’s travel arm had become its “engine room”, contributing 75% of the group’s revenue and 85% of its trading profit in 2024.

“Its product mix, which includes food, beverages and tech, is better suited to higher-margin, impulse-driven purchases in busy transit hubs,” he added.

He expected the new owner to have “a laser focus on costs and profitability”.

“WH Smith stores typically have short leases, which opens opportunity to streamline unprofitable stores, particularly as a number of High Street locations are in desperate need of costly investment having been run lean for so long,” he said.

Catherine Shuttleworth at the retail consultancy Savvy said keeping the chain going would provide “a lifeline” for many High Streets.

“It remains to be seen what the new owners will do with the space, but it would appear that there are opportunities in Hobbycraft to move into High Street sales, maximising opportunities with younger shoppers who are looking for crafting inspiration,” she said.

Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdowne said the new branding would take time to get established.

“It will take time to resonate with the British public, and many will mourn the loss of a High Street brand which has been a hub for shoppers for more than two centuries.

“Nevertheless, there is sure to be interest piqued at how the new owners can help revitalise sales, and whether products sold will be at a more competitive price, to help the chain turn a corner.”