British shoppers will soon bid farewell to WH Smith. After 233 years, the historic retailer is quitting the UK high street, following the sale of its 480 stores to Modella Capital. Replacing it will be a new brand TG Jones.
While there is a degree of sadness when such a stalwart disappears, it’s hard to shed a tear for those tired and unloved-looking shopfronts.
The good news is that the stores and staff are transferring to the new owners. Modella Capital, an investment company that specialises in retail already counts arts and crafts store Hobbycraft and discount department store The Original Factory Shop among its portfolio.
The question now is whether the new owners can reverse years of decline, bring customers back and improve sales. To succeed, TG Jones will need to learn from WH Smith’s failures, re-establish a clear and distinctive proposition on the high street and improve the customer experience.
The rise and fall of WH Smith
In its early days, WH Smith quickly became the UK’s principal newspaper distributor. Over the years, it evolved to sell a variety of products, including cards, books and stationery, to broaden its appeal.
In 1848, WH Smith’s first travel retail store opened in London’s Euston station. Its travel arm would later become the most successful part of the business, contributing to 75% of the group’s revenue last year. Its travel outlets will continue under the WH Smith name and was not sold as part of the Modella Capital deal.
As of 2022, WH Smith’s numbers were still looking healthy, with more than 1,700 stores in over 30 countries. But the evolution that made the business so successful slowly faltered.
The brand failed to keep up with other high street stores. What once appealed to the masses became a mishmash of products with an incoherent offer in its untidy stores, where the experience has been forgotten.
This cannot be the case for brands looking to win on today’s high street. Shoppers can find the same products in multiple other places at lower prices with a better shopping experience.
It’s a different story for WH Smith travel stores, where the brand remains relevant. The retailer is the go-to for last-minute purchases – a book or paper for the plane, Nurofen for the holiday hangover or sweets to pacify a bored mouth. And, importantly, the stores are clean, well laid-out and inviting. Here, the experience for the customer has been well-considered.
This new chapter is a long-overdue chance to hit the reset button and address the current expectations of high street retailers to create a strong, memorable proposition. This, it would seem, starts with a new name – TGJones.
Making the rebrand a success
WH Smith may have lost its meaning over the decades – how many of us knew it stood for William Henry Smith, the son of the founder? But it was rooted in an actual family and with that, initially at least, some family values.
Modella Capital says it chose the TG Jones name because it carries ‘the same sense of family’ as WH Smith – despite being a made-up name – because Jones, like Smith, is a commonly occurring surname.
To really thrive under its new name, TG Jones needs to stand for something in people’s minds. Few people remembered what WH Smith stood for by the end of its life and a large part of its decline came from its lack of differentiation or distinctiveness. People no longer had an incentive to shop with the brand because other competitors succeeded in drawing customers in with clearer propositions, more interesting innovations and a more seamless experience.
Modella Capital now needs to consider how it can stand out in the market and whet TG Jones can offer that other, more-established retailers don’t.
TG Jones also needs to recognise the evolving needs of the high-street shopper. These aren’t the same as 10 years ago and will likely look entirely different in the next 10 years.
The high street has changed as customers have turned more frequently to discount retailers during the cost-of-living crisis. Savvy retailers have also invested in the customer experience, with the idea that every experience has to be better than the last.
However, WH Smith failed to keep up with these trends. This is where TG Jones has the opportunity to turn the business around – developing a clear offer with relevant product ranges, keeping up with changes to the high street and changes in people’s lives and creating a unique shopping experience for its customers.
It will take time for the new name to resonate on the high street, so TG Jones will need to be coherent in its proposition to make sure this cuts through. This is a now-or-never opportunity for TG Jones to solidify its place on the high street, just as WH Smith once did many years ago.
Vicky Bullen is CEO at design agency Coley Porter Bell.
British shoppers will soon bid farewell to WH Smith. After 233 years, the historic retailer is quitting the UK high street, following the sale of its 480 stores to Modella Capital. Replacing it will be a new brand TG Jones.
While there is a degree of sadness when such a stalwart disappears, it's hard to shed a tear for those tired and unloved-looking shopfronts.
The good news is that the stores and staff are transferring to the new owners. Modella Capital, an investment company that specialises in retail already counts arts and crafts store Hobbycraft and discount department store The Original Factory Shop among its portfolio.
