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Original poster

W H SMITHS - what's that all about?

133 replies

Febrier · 04/04/2022 08:21

It's a shadow of its former self. It used to be a classy place to go for top quality books, especially of the Christmas present or school award variety. Also, posh stationery.
Now it's just cluttered with cheap toys and discounted Cadburys. (Are they still doing that hard sell at the till?). Customers skim the surface of the shop for ten- a scratch card but none penetrate the dark inners of the store.

How is it surviving? It's ripe for a Sold Its Soul To The Devil conspiracy theory.

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 04/04/2022 10:09

Apparently they don't put the lights on at the one my mum works at because they mysteriously don't work but nobody will pay for them to be repaired Confused and the ceiling leaks but again, too expensive so don't bother. It's about to get condemned!

BumBurnerBum · 04/04/2022 10:10

The state of the carpet in mine is astonishing

Pinkflask · 04/04/2022 10:14

The one in my small town is a nice, biggish shop (used to be Woolworth's) - we don't have all that many chains and no other shop selling new books so it's actually nice to have it there but it's so crap and overpriced! There's a Card Factory opposite and B&M and Wilkos close by so that's cards and stationery much better catered for elsewhere. We also have a good independent newsagent with a large range of magazines and posh cards which is much more "the place to go" for the older people in town.

There's a book on the reduced shelf which has been there about a year. I know this because it's a stupid YouTube spinoff book from 2015 and two years ago I bought it in a charity shop for 25p for my DS. He got 25p's worth of enjoyment from it, but it's on sale in WH Smith for £10!!! For a 7 year old YouTube book!

frogsbreath · 04/04/2022 10:15

I can't believe all WHSmith's have the same problem with lighting. I thought it was just ours which was so dark.

I do buy books from ours, I used to buy lots of magazines when ds was little. Recently when I go in it's harder to find books among the tables of reduced, yet still overpriced, bags/craft kits/toys and masses of chocolate stacked at the till which is also overpriced even on special offers.

Whinge · 04/04/2022 10:15

@BumBurnerBum

The state of the carpet in mine is astonishing
I'd love to tell you what the carpet is like in mine, but with the lack of lights and enormous amount of stuff they've crammed in there's actually very little carpet visble.

Also, slightly off topic but our WH Smiths has got to be one of the only shops locally where you can't navigate with a wheelchair / mobility scooter. I struggle to get round the narrow aisles and awkwardly placed displays, so anyone with mobility problems has no chance. Sad

whenwilliwillibefamous · 04/04/2022 10:22

I spent a lot of my childhood in the local Smith's, buying cheap records, reading (and sometimes buying) the film novelisations (pre VHS!), buying the magazines...I think I might even have bought a cheap boombox from them.
Now I venture into there only for diaries requested by (even more elderly) relatives.

I suppose the High Street shops could reinvent themselves as craft/hobby/toy shops but tricky to get the jump on Poundland and Paperchase.

Brainwave89 · 04/04/2022 10:24

I wont go into details, but my work has a connection with WHS. IME they are terrible employers. In one store I visited a few months ago, they were pressurising staff to work long hours to make up for shortfalls- In particular stating that willingness to be flexible would be taken into account if we have to "let anyone go". The heating in the staffroom had been turned off so it was freezing and they had sacked the cleaner, requiring staff to take turns cleaning toilets. Clearly this had not happened- Managers would not have allowed them to do this in practice and as a result the toilets were a health hazard. All this on little more than minimum wage.

vitahelp · 04/04/2022 10:27

I used to love Smiths as a teenager and returned recently to a city based branch. It was so depressing. It's still good for magazines if you want the more unusual ones/american editions etc. But the other floors are just scary and weird. Sad when a childhood favourite goes downhill like that.

TheDogsMother · 04/04/2022 10:27

I'm amazed they are still going. The stores are untidy and shabby. They are quite expensive compared to some places and it's impossible to leave without a swathe of voucher and giant chocolate bar offers.

user1471443411 · 04/04/2022 10:31

I've thought this for years too. Ours is quite big but lots of space taken up by a post office now. They do sell a lot of stationery but mostly overpriced tat, they should make more of a thing of the pens and quality stationery as there's no competition for this sort of thing in our town now after the closure of independents. I do appreciate their range of printer papers though, and some of their cards and wrapping paper are nice.
Also some of the staff in ours are really rude, they don't look as though they want to be there and one lady in particular makes rude comments about customers within earshot. The manager is lovely though, I guess they don't have much power in the decision making.

HumbugWhale · 04/04/2022 10:33

I agree, when I was young it was the place to go for back to school stationery including fountain pens and scientific calculators. Did anyone else have one if those long pencil cases with the outlines of pens, pencils, scissors, rulers etc? They were from WHS and they were great, you could fit a 30 cm ruler in them!
I think they lost their way when they started selling fags and chocolate like ordinary newsagents. It always seemed to be cluttered and not sell as many books and nice stationery after that.

Beees · 04/04/2022 10:36

Also, slightly off topic but our WH Smiths has got to be one of the only shops locally where you can't navigate with a wheelchair / mobility scooter. I struggle to get round the narrow aisles and awkwardly placed displays, so anyone with mobility problems has no chance.

Ours is the same. I can't even navigate a pushchair around it so someone in a wheelchair or on a mobility scooter would definitely struggle.

upinaballoon · 04/04/2022 10:39

It's the only shop I know now where I can buy a writing pad, to write proper letters, rather than something ridiculously expensive or yet another damned packet of notecards. I have so many notecards but sometimes I want decent paper. Also, in my local one there was an assistant who helped me to find the right refills for pretty biro pens. As for the rest.......mmm

FloBot7 · 04/04/2022 10:43

My DH is convinced that WH Smith has some dirt on some very rich business people or the government. There's no other explanation for its survival.

HotMummaSummer · 04/04/2022 10:47

I went in for a colouring book for DD and there were about 3 to choose from. I picked one but couldn't see the price and when I got to the till thought it was expensive! I now go to home bargains or B&M for anything like that...

species5618 · 04/04/2022 10:48

We have two near us.
Our local one is awful; dirty, dark and stuffed with special buys at the counter. You struggle to get though the entrance as the door only opens halfway and it's been like that for over a year. I only use it for newspapers. The one slightly further away is completely different. Attractive displays in clean wide aisles. It's a much bigger shop though with two floors. Still eye-wateringly expensive.

Velvian · 04/04/2022 10:55

It has been absolutely shite for decades. I'll never forgive WH Smith for flogging Playboy stationery to school girls and have not touched them with a barge pole for 25 years.

They do not deserve to survive, apart from my own personal vendetta regarding Playboy merchandise, they have been selling a mish mash of dusty, overpriced, unrelated stuff for eons.

I don't like them, can you tell Grin.

andi62 · 04/04/2022 10:57

My local one is more of a (understaffed and semi-useless) post office counter, only thing I've bought in the last two years is some sticky labels. I go in there about once a year and go elsewhere for PO services, where at least I can get served in under half an hour.

Oh for the old days of perusing records and homebrew kits.

ickky · 04/04/2022 11:00

Why are they so dark? Our local one is like a troll cave. Daylight doesn't seem to penetrate past the glass at the front of the shop.

I have good eyesight and find it hard to see anything clearly.

Patchbatch · 04/04/2022 11:03

I never see anyone else in the one here, they must have customers to stay open but it's a miracle they're still going. The atmosphere in them is horrible, they're always dirty and messy, and honestly although I like to support the high street, going in there for a small selection of stuff you can get a lot cheaper on amazon doesn't sound that appealing. At least with Waterstones they have offers on sometimes for new releases, a variety of stuff like board games as well, and the atmosphere is usually good. The staff also seem more knowledgeable and have asked them some questions they've been really helpful with- so don't mind spending more there.

MrsGHarrison87 · 04/04/2022 11:03

My local one is a dump. Filthy carpet and and same dated layout they've had for the past 25 years. No idea how they're still open.

Twitterwhooooo · 04/04/2022 11:05

Our local one is also very gloomy!

Not helped by the dull decor but notwithstanding that, lighting still very low.

I used to love WHSmith. It was with me through all the scented rubbers of the teenage years, stationary when I was at uni, good for presents when a young adult.

I do still buy bits there out of loyalty, but it's sad to see it going downhill.

PineappleWilson · 04/04/2022 11:05

They've very cluttered. Last time I went into one I struggled to get the pushchair down the aisles and around corners. They always feel like they have a very 80s design to the shop itself. Shame, as I think there is a market for somewhere to buy from a much wider range of magazines, but they don't use that to their advantage.

ZittiEBuoni · 04/04/2022 11:08

I've just been into my local one, which has been rubbish for years. In addition to indifferent staff and poor quality products and displays, the building is horrendously damp so all the paperback covers curl up and there are 2-bar heaters randomly scattered here and there - surely a health & safety contravention.

But it's the only place in town to sell nicer quality cards, so I'm hoping it doesn't close, or that's yet another thing I'll have to buy online.

ZittiEBuoni · 04/04/2022 11:11

Just remembered I used to haunt the place as a teenager, partly because a lad I fancied worked behind the record counter Grin. Those days are sadly long gone...