WHSmith ‘prime example’ of why UK high street failed as it’s ‘losing relevance’

12 comments

1. [removed]

2. Times have changed, and the best companies change with them. We all live our lives by the Free Market and one of those rules is “no one is owed your money”, its for stores like WH Smith to earn your custom, they have not been doing so.

   What I do find amusing is the past 5+ years, the media has made EVERYBODY aware that its only the travel stores that make any money. This idea that the high street stores are now up for sale is very amusing, few people are going to want that. (the article HMV, and I could see that)

   Saying that I have purchased an item from WH Smith in the past 5 years. I bought a covid mask, it was my main one for those years. Very happy with it.

3. If a high street is failing close it down, if the public wanted it they’d use it. They don’t, they want internet retail, this means less opportunity and more gig economy and warehouse jobs and in many cases no paid holiday and no sick but it’s what the public wants, give it to them.

4. I mean, why would you go to Smiths unless you wanted a crap sandwich? The book choice is pretty weak, you generally don’t need to buy stationary often and the magazine you read you can just get via subscription.

5. Fuck the high street

   The high street has been the same generic retailers with the same monopoly for years.

   Look at other countries and the high streets will probably have like a H&M or something but most of the shops are more boutique shops and cafés/bars and restaurants etc.

   I think we need more incentives to make our high streets less commercial and more like mainland Europe where you just have people chilling in cafés and markets and stuff.

   We seem to think that going out to the same generic corporate shops is a leisure activity.

   I don’t think the high street needs to be over commercialised to evolve into something better. We have the internet for our shopping needs now and we have an opportunity to turn our high streets into meeting places.

6. I used to go into WHS on the high street all the time. All the time. In Belfast there was a big one, and I was a teenager, and they had a basement where they sold video games and Lego as well as books. Upstairs they had art supplies, magazines, and stationery. I specifically remember that I liked WHS because it had magazines you couldn’t get elsewhere, and it had games you couldn’t get elsewhere. This was a strange period of time though, like, in the same era Boots was selling GameCube games. Sounds strange now but it did happen – and I mention it to say; you could often find rare or bargain video games in the least likely places, so back then it was definitely worth shopping around. 

   I guess the big difference was, back then, your shop could stand out by having stock that had niche appeal. Now I’m unlikely to want to go looking around multiple shops, because they all have the same stock at the same price, and if I want something niche it’s better to find it online. 

7. WHSmith hasn’t been great in around 20 years, back in the 90’s they were good for video games, graphic novels, newspapers, magazines and many sale items then the prices skyrocketed in the early 00’s and I don’t mean train station branches, I remember even around 2004 they wanted around £1.30 for a can of Pepsi/Coca Cola and thinking no way as the branch in that town was right next door to a Semi Chem where it was around 45/50p

   In another town the one there had a post office, and everything I sent from there over the space of the year many recorded delivery went missing, I tried again a few years later when passing and item went missing, and again another few years later, other people I know who sent items from there would get them 1-3 months later.

8. WHSmiths high street stores didn’t die they where slowly murdered by their owners who refused to invest in them

9. The high street is just waiting for third spaces, interesting business ideas and fun as well as buying stuff. Unfortunately rent is too high and no one has the money to spend or the time to make these places viable.

10. WH Smith’s has been run into the ground by incompetent buyers (the people that chose what products go on sale). There’s really not much reason to go into a WH Smith’s unless it’s where your local post office is.

    An example – look at the board game section of Smiths vs a Waterstones and it is full of the worst curated garbage.

11. Land lords need to stop being so good damn greedy and let smaller indy/boutique shops get a look in. How many vape and barbers do we actually need?

12. I dont know why WHSmith still exists. Who goes there? For what? Everything is overpriced, and it’s not specialised enough to get what you are looking for generally. You see them in airports and train stations which is the only places they make sense because they are generally expensive places already.

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