Traditional company
Great Britain: WH Smith disappears from shopping streets
The company’s history goes back for more than 230 years: the bookseller WH Smith has long been part of British city centers such as classic Fish-and-chips shops. Now comes a change.
With its bookstores, the traditional British company Wh Smith shaped the city centers of Great Britain for a long time – now the name is supposed to disappear from the shopping streets. Around 480 shops are sold to the company Modella Capital – for £ 76 million (around 91 million euros), as the company said.
In the future, the stores will be continued under the name “TG Jones”. In contrast, the travel division is not sold – there should continue to be “Wh Smith” shops at airports, train stations and in hospitals.
Founded in the 18th century
In addition to books and magazines, the shops also sell stationery and toys. The history of the company goes back around 230 years – it was founded in 1792 by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna with a shop in London.
A few decades later, the first shop opened at a train station – 1848 at the Euston train station in London, as it says on the website. Today, around 1,200 branches in more than 30 countries belong to the travel division. It was now wanted to concentrate entirely on this business area, it said.
dpa
Source: Stern
