How WHSmith became the UK’s ultimate stationery destination in the 1970s – before ‘abandoning its heritage’ amid fears over future of high street icon

It was as soon as a shining beacon of the British excessive road that served as a one-stop store for stationery, newspapers, data and literature.

However lately, WHSmith has tarnished the gleaming fame it construct up within the Nineteen Sixties-Eighties with its near-constant clearance gross sales and ‘overpriced garbage’.

And now, after struggling to maintain up with altering client habits for the previous 15 years, the as soon as beloved chain is prone to disappearing from the UK completely. 

In an announcement yesterday, the British retailer – which was based in 1792 in London – confirmed that it’s in talks to doubtlessly promote its 520 excessive road shops.

The information hasn’t been met with a lot shock from former clients – who complained how their native shops, which had been as soon as famed for his or her fastidiously curated choice of upmarket stationery, have appeared extra like a ‘dump’ for a few years.

One X consumer wrote: ‘WHSmith ought to have gone beneath earlier than Woolworths. Overpriced and garbage. It was superb within the Eighties.’

One other added: ‘I’ve not been in a WHSmith for years, ever since they’ve turn into extra recognized for his or her rotten carpet patterns, moderately than their potential to promote properly priced stationery and a pleasant pen to match.’

‘WHSmith misplaced its means and tried to do an excessive amount of,’ a 3rd mentioned. ‘It has been unhappy watching it being run down.’

Right here FEMAIL takes a glance again on the glory days of the UK chain – from their ’60s file roll-out to turning into the last word stationery vacation spot within the Nineteen Seventies.

On the top of its recognition, half the British inhabitants bought their newspapers from WHSmith.

Within the Nineteen Sixties, the quintessentially British chain was famed for its smooth interiors and state-of-the-art listening pods, which allowed clients to hearken to data earlier than shopping for them.

Buoyed by this success, the enterprise loved a retail renaissance within the Nineteen Seventies when it got here beneath new administration – having at all times beforehand been a family-run firm. 

In 1792, Henry Walton Smith opened a newsagent on Little Grosvenor Road in London along with his spouse Anna.

18 years later, their sons William and Henry inherited the enterprise and renamed it after themselves.

In 1848, the brothers based their first newsstand in Euston station – and had been named the UK’s principal newspaper distributor two years later, main them to open depots in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.

Quick ahead 100 years, the enterprise started promoting vinyl data and expanded into Europe and Canada. 

Pictured: WHSmith’s bookstall at Waterloo Station in London in 1960. In 1792, Henry Walton Smith opened a newsagent on Little Grosvenor Road in London along with his spouse Anna

Pictured: The WHSmith retailer in Huntingdon in 1986, which featured the branding introduced in in 1973

In 1972, the Smith household lastly bought the enterprise, which had maintained the identical traditional oak-fronted outlets with their ‘WHS’ brand for nearly 200 years.

To usher in this new period, the enterprise debuted their new brown-and-orange dice brand, which had been rolled out to a whole bunch shops throughout the nation.

The corporate additional diversified by launching WHSmith Journey in 1973 – and later acquired the DIY chain Do It All, which merged with Payless DIY. 

In 1986, the corporate went from strength-to-strength once they purchased Paperchase and Our Worth Music, thereby establishing themselves as a heavyweight in each the file and stationery retail worlds.

Specifically, Britons throughout the nation can have fond recollections of their time spent in WHSmith’s well-stocked stationery sections – full of colored pens, glue sticks, novelty pencil instances, light-up pens, animal-shaped rubbers, and virtually another college provide conceivable. 

On the top of its recognition, half the British inhabitants bought their newspapers from WHSmith

Pictured: Prospects store for magazines and newspapers at a WHSmith store in London in April 2008

However like different legacy retailers, WHSmith struggled to adapt within the digital age – as print media moved on-line and the recognition of Kindles sky-rocketed. 

Whereas some specialists mentioned the model ‘deserted their heritage’, others identified how supermarkets more and more started stocking newspapers, books, CDs and DVDs within the noughties, which put a pressure of WHSmith’s maintain available on the market.

Talking to The Occasions in 2004. Richard Hyman – chairman of analysis consultancy Verdict – defined: ‘I can’t say what they’re there for. That’s the core downside that Smiths faces.

‘They don’t have a transparent view of what they’re there for. That’s proven within the poor procuring expertise of their shops.’

The retailer was voted Britain’s worst or second worst excessive road retailer for 9 straight years from 2011 to 2019, in a ballot carried out by client watchdog Which? 

Discussing the model’s sluggish decline in 2015, British monetary journalist Matthew Lynn wrote in Administration As we speak: ‘[WHSmith] has turn into the poster little one for short-term penny-pinching administration, destroying its model to maintain the shareholders blissful and the chief bonuses rolling, whereas sacrificing its medium-term probabilities of staying in enterprise […]

The information hasn’t been met with a lot shock from former clients – who complained how their native shops have appeared extra like a ‘dump’ for a few years

‘It has ruthlessly under-invested in its high-street outlets, whereas pushing up costs on most of its vary, and tempting clients in with large chocolate bars bought for a quid. It has labored to date, however solely by making a horrible procuring expertise.’ 

That yr, the X account ‘WHS_Carpet_Twitter’ grew to become a viral sensation, which documented among the most run-down floorings within the firm’s shops.

The nameless founding father of the account instructed the publication: ‘What began off as a little bit of fun quickly escalated because it grew to become clear that many shoppers and workers members had been equally alarmed by the declining state of what was a high-street favorite.

‘I have been pleasantly shocked by the curiosity in what’s a horrifically area of interest Twitter feed, however I feel it simply resonates with people who’ve fond childhood recollections of it however are actually disturbed by how a lot workers cuts and cost-saving measures have turned WHSmith into an anti-retailer.’ 

In 2009, WHSmith was slammed after a Mail on Sunday investigation revealed that they had elevated the costs at their shops in hospitals.

In a single hospital department, a bottle of nonetheless mineral water is on sale for £1.69, in comparison with 85p within the metropolis centre.

One other hospital-based WHSmith fees £2.99 for a pad of paper and £2.89 for a rollerball pen, in comparison with £1.99 and £2.49 at its close by retailer.

The enterprise loved a retail renaissance within the Nineteen Seventies when it got here beneath new administration – having at all times beforehand been a family-run firm

 In 2011, retail professional Mary Portas – who as employed by ex-PM David Cameron to revamp Britain’s excessive streets – famously referred to WHSmith as a ‘dump’.

She fumed on Twitter: ‘I actually hate WHSmith. Was once a liked British biz & now a dump. 

‘Rush hour, 7.45am at Euston. One particular person on until. Queues. And s****y promos.’ 

She later added: ‘‘Once I evaluate, I evaluate as a consumer and as a consumer we needs to be demanding higher. I’m sorry, I consider that.’

Earlier this month, WHSmith introduced it’s set to shut 17 of its shops over the approaching months, following a string of closures final yr.

It comes after WHSmith beforehand introduced plans to open 110 new branches in airports, prepare stations and hospitals the place income had been increased than excessive road outlets, in addition to greater than 50 shops in North America.

The long-lasting excessive road chain has already seen two of its shops in Luton, Bedfordshire and Previous Christchurch Street, Bournemouth, shut its doorways for good on January 18.