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TOPIC: WH Smith
#254263
Al Gershwin

WH Smith 3 Weeks, 2 Days ago  
Yet another major blow likely for the UK High Street, with the disposal of hundreds of shops - there for centuries.


news.sky.com/story/wh-smith-in-secret-ta...-street-arm-13295955
 
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#254282
Green Man

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 2 Days ago  
It was only the Post Office that kept them afloat for so long.

People say the high streets are dead but all the vape shops seem to remain open and Turkish barbers, even though some are only open for a few hours each day, with their strong Neon lights. (Yes Barney, I am being sarcastic)
 
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#254288
hedda

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 2 Days ago  
Sadly the decline of the publishing industry is to blame.

It's why I cannot stand Amazon and not just because they are a ruthless employer sacking 1000s who tried to form a union, but because they have put out of business 1000s of small bookshops around the world, 2 which were my favorite to visit.

Of course I am like Pa Simpson shaking my fist at the clouds in many matters like this but the rapidly changing world with A1 is going to force extraordinary
changes and with the extreme far right on the charge I don't think the masses will benefit.
 
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#254304
Al Gershwin

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 1 Day ago  
Green Man wrote:
It was only the Post Office that kept them afloat for so long.

Simply incorrect. Only c100 Post Offices are located in WHS branches - which made £32m last year and have many strong features, including locations.

Interest will be high in the units of WHS who (like Diageo, who're considering the sale of Guinness) are repositioning themselves in the marketplace.
 
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#254309
Green Man

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 1 Day ago  
Al Gershwin wrote:
Green Man wrote:
It was only the Post Office that kept them afloat for so long.

Simply incorrect. Only c100 Post Offices are located in WHS branches - which made £32m last year and have many strong features, including locations.

Interest will be high in the units of WHS who (like Diageo, who're considering the sale of Guinness) are repositioning themselves in the marketplace.


Without the Post Office these branches would have closed, I would bet my bottom dollar on that one.

I have been keeping checks on Diageo. Their share prices have not been great for a while.
 
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#254312
MCR

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 1 Day ago  
It could end up like what happened with HMV when that was sold and the new buyer saved it.
 
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#254316
Green Man

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 1 Day ago  
MCR wrote:
It could end up like what happened with HMV when that was sold and the new buyer saved it.

HMV is doing really well at the moment, but there is needs to a decent pricing strategy. I have noticed their prices online are cheaper in the stores. Surely, they need to be same price.
 
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#254341
Wyot

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 1 Day ago  
Green Man wrote:


People say the high streets are dead but all the vape shops seem to remain open and Turkish barbers, even though some are only open for a few hours each day


Fronts for money-laundering GM as a lot of car washes and tanning saloons sadly are...
 
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#254344
Green Man

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 1 Day ago  
Wyot wrote:
Green Man wrote:


People say the high streets are dead but all the vape shops seem to remain open and Turkish barbers, even though some are only open for a few hours each day


Fronts for money-laundering GM as a lot of car washes and tanning saloons sadly are...


Careful Wyot, Barney will ask you for stats and figures and will ask you if you or the shop staff do hiking.
 
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#254346
Rich

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 1 Day ago  
Wyot wrote:
Green Man wrote:


People say the high streets are dead but all the vape shops seem to remain open and Turkish barbers, even though some are only open for a few hours each day


Fronts for money-laundering GM as a lot of car washes and tanning saloons sadly are...




You are quite correct Wyot. How come they get away with it? Plenty of evidence of it where I live too. Long established hair salon bustling yet a Turkish barber has never got any custom, neither has a vape shop nor a quite large food store with an odd name. Just paying for the premises must be a fortune, how do they do it without much custom? Anyone with half a brain can work it out. These things only started popping up within the last five to seven years, none run by British people. Another Tory legacy to our nation, taking the p**s in our faces. They are clearly not legit. What's Reeves got to say about all this then? Nothing!

I've heard there is a thing about dodgy sweet shops with overpriced content on Oxford Street in London too.


It's a shame about WHSmith, I've always liked them but they've seemed like an obvious candidate for vanishing off the High Street for a few years now to me, and quite frankly I deplore their vast overpricing and mark ups at their station shops - £7 for a standard size unremarkable box of maltesers, get lost!
 
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#254357
MCR

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks, 1 Day ago  
Wyot wrote:
Green Man wrote:


People say the high streets are dead but all the vape shops seem to remain open and Turkish barbers, even though some are only open for a few hours each day


Fronts for money-laundering GM as a lot of car washes and tanning saloons sadly are...


Yeah the King George pub in Northfield, Birmingham has been used for a car wash for a while now after it closed down.
 
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#254361
Downing Street Cat

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks ago  
WH Smith didn't adapt with the changing times. Expensive, smaller stores were badly planned, they didn't hold much appeal for youngsters. I noticed how our local one seemed to attract old folk ..a smattering of men in flat caps and trench coats flicking through magazines and end up buying a Daily Mail. It needed an injection of excitement and a less stodgy and outdated welcome. The manager of the local store was very Captain Peacock, peering at you over spectacles as if one was about to stuff a James Herbert down ones trousers. WH Smith were always doomed.
 
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#254367
Green Man

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks ago  
Rich wrote:
Wyot wrote:
Green Man wrote:


People say the high streets are dead but all the vape shops seem to remain open and Turkish barbers, even though some are only open for a few hours each day


Fronts for money-laundering GM as a lot of car washes and tanning saloons sadly are...




You are quite correct Wyot. How come they get away with it? Plenty of evidence of it where I live too. Long established hair salon bustling yet a Turkish barber has never got any custom, neither has a vape shop nor a quite large food store with an odd name. Just paying for the premises must be a fortune, how do they do it without much custom? Anyone with half a brain can work it out. These things only started popping up within the last five to seven years, none run by British people. Another Tory legacy to our nation, taking the p**s in our faces. They are clearly not legit. What's Reeves got to say about all this then? Nothing!

I've heard there is a thing about dodgy sweet shops with overpriced content on Oxford Street in London too.


It's a shame about WHSmith, I've always liked them but they've seemed like an obvious candidate for vanishing off the High Street for a few years now to me, and quite frankly I deplore their vast overpricing and mark ups at their station shops - £7 for a standard size unremarkable box of maltesers, get lost!


The sweet shops make me laugh. You know, they are shopfronts. They have a traditional British or Celtic name, but the staff looks Arabic. What I can gather is that they always close just before the new tax year. It's like souvenir shops that mention London, Manchester, Liverpool etc., when you are nowhere near those cities.
 
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#254378
Green Man

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks ago  
Downing Street Cat wrote:
WH Smith didn't adapt with the changing times. Expensive, smaller stores were badly planned, they didn't hold much appeal for youngsters. I noticed how our local one seemed to attract old folk ..a smattering of men in flat caps and trench coats flicking through magazines and end up buying a Daily Mail. It needed an injection of excitement and a less stodgy and outdated welcome. The manager of the local store was very Captain Peacock, peering at you over spectacles as if one was about to stuff a James Herbert down ones trousers. WH Smith were always doomed.

Magazines have pretty much had their day. It's done online now or interviews are on podcasts. I go to WHsmith for the Post Office, I can walk past their newspapers, pens, paperbacks, cards without giving a second glance.

I have noticed many Smiths are located to next to places Works or Poundland and are much cheaper for envelopes and pens.

Smiths should have never got rid of home media, they stock staff that was not in record shops and much cheaper also. Now they tell you to order online or order instore.

I did a order book instore, after 3 weeks I was told they didn't order the book...but they still took the money. I had get the store manager to give me a refund eventually.
 
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#254381
Downing Street Cat

Re:WH Smith 3 Weeks ago  
Green Man wrote:
Downing Street Cat wrote:
WH Smith didn't adapt with the changing times. Expensive, smaller stores were badly planned, they didn't hold much appeal for youngsters. I noticed how our local one seemed to attract old folk ..a smattering of men in flat caps and trench coats flicking through magazines and end up buying a Daily Mail. It needed an injection of excitement and a less stodgy and outdated welcome. The manager of the local store was very Captain Peacock, peering at you over spectacles as if one was about to stuff a James Herbert down ones trousers. WH Smith were always doomed.

Magazines have pretty much had their day. It's done online now or interviews are on podcasts. I go to WHsmith for the Post Office, I can walk past their newspapers, pens, paperbacks, cards without giving a second glance.

I have noticed many Smiths are located to next to places Works or Poundland and are much cheaper for envelopes and pens.

Smiths should have never got rid of home media, they stock staff that was not in record shops and much cheaper also. Now they tell you to order online or order instore.

I did a order book instore, after 3 weeks I was told they didn't order the book...but they still took the money. I had get the store manager to give me a refund eventually.
Agreed GM. Not a store I visited often. Did when younger, but of course a different world then.
 
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