To think Debenhams and WHSmith are the worst shops on the High St

[Shekinah1]

Read an article this week saying that the owner of JD is negotiating to buy the chain.

The article is paywalled (FT) but it’s speculates whether this is an attempt to revitalise or slim down the group or move it to an online store.
However I’m shocked that it has been able to keep going as a business.

Beyond the Standard department store makeup section it has nothing worthwhile to buy. The brands are usually dated and unfashionable. The shoe section is chaotic.

The bra section is ok but not as good as M&S and other places and then there is just the weird sweet stuff that seems to be randomly doted around the store. The cafe section always seems a bit dead of life. It’s sad because these stores have potential but it just seems like whoever has run Debenhams is stuck in 1991.

WHSmith is overpriced on stationary. It has morphed into this shop that excels in nothing. It’s book section is not as good as Waterstones with less range, it’s food and drinks (meal deal) is overpriced and not as good as the supermarkets and boots for that matter. The only thing it seems to excel in is huge bars of Galaxy and huge 1l bottles of water.

I’m sad staff in these chains might lose their jobs but really what are these two shops offering to the High st?

People keep saying the High St is dead but I disagree I think that once shops like these either reform and improve or disappear it will become a lot better.

www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/11/28/jd-sports-backs-away-debenhams-talks/

Looks like Debenhams is on the brink.

I don't mind Debenhams, though I much prefer M&S, and don't go that often. I hate WHSmith though, everything is overpriced, hugely in some cases, and I would only go there to buy a specific magazine if I really needed to, which is never!

In defence of Debenhams, our local store was okay but their online service is great. Ordered presents which arrived within 36 hours. Very impressed.

I guess it depends where you live.
Debenhams for me has other shops in it which helps. We dont for example have a dorothy perkins with a 45 min drive, but theres one in debenhams
It's also good for having a range. My high street clothes wise has a new look, h and m, and a m and s for clothes. So if your looking for smart clothes it's the easiest place however if it's in somewhere like lakeside then it loses it omph

Their website always has a good range too.

I hate everything about WH Smith’s APART FROM their ‘day per page’ diaries which I buy every year because I really like the layout of them. I have to write a massive to-do list every day for work and this layout works really well for me.
I want them to stay trading for that reason alone.

Both Debenhams and WH Smith’s would benefit from a bloody good tidy up. Mountains of shite everywhere.

The Manchester Debenhams always seemed to have two members of staff in the whole place, oh apart from the persistent perfume sprayers that needed to be dodged. Could never find anywhere to pay, they must have lost so many sales from people giving up wandering around empty tills and ditching their stuff.

My high street also doesnt have anywhere to buy premium make up or skin care. If I could shop in house of Fraser I would but the nearest is about 1 hour 20 min away / 40 odd miles.

John lewis is closer but is still 30 miles away (but much easier to access)

I live in south east too. I'm not some rural country dweller!

Without being dramatic it really is a sign of the local high street going, and those sorts of stores moving to cities and the big malls near the cities

We have two Debenhams equidistant from us. One is a nice place to shop. The other is like a jumble sale. TK Max can get away with being like a jumble sale as it's cheap. Debenhams not so much.

I gave up on the kids clothes a few years ago when pretty much every item had unicorns on it. My DD wasn't into unicorns and I'm sure she wasn't the only one.

Has anyone seen the Twitter account WH Smith’s carpets? Very funny and so true, particularly about my local branch that is more like a jumble sale.

I love Debenhams own brand bras. They are a much better fit than say M&S. They also measure you better.

But they are absolute shites when it comes to squeezing their suppliers and having really long payment terms. Might make you feel better if they go.

Agree. Showing my age but in the 1980s smiths was the place to go. They had all the CDs and videos and magazines and the best range of stationery by a country mile. It was literally the only shop in town which I was interested in. Definitely used to go Debenhams a lot too.
Now I avoid both like the plague.

In whsmiths’s defence though I found them quite helpful for general Homeschool stuff (workbooks reading books and stationery ) immediately before the first lockdown. I went the day before everything closed, was the only person in there and came out with everything I needed.

Surely their travel outlets are massively struggling right now with nobody going anywhere. Their days are numbered. They haven’t moved with the times though- there are better places to buy everything. Only got themselves to blame.

@Frazzled2207

Agree. Showing my age but in the 1980s smiths was the place to go. They had all the CDs and videos and magazines and the best range of stationery by a country mile. It was literally the only shop in town which I was interested in. Definitely used to go Debenhams a lot too. Now I avoid both like the plague.

In whsmiths’s defence though I found them quite helpful for general Homeschool stuff (workbooks reading books and stationery ) immediately before the first lockdown. I went the day before everything closed, was the only person in there and came out with everything I needed.

Surely their travel outlets are massively struggling right now with nobody going anywhere. Their days are numbered. They haven’t moved with the times though- there are better places to buy everything. Only got themselves to blame.

WH Smith know that their days on the High Street are numbered, that's why they're slowly closing a few stores each year as their turnover/profit levels fall and why they're not refreshing the carpets etc. It's part of their longer term plan. Taking in Post Office counters has given them a short reprieve, but they know that the Post Office is also a declining business. Another decade or so and there probably won't be any WHS High Street stores and probably no Post Offices either. No point in flogging a dead horse - they'll just continue to close a number of underperforming stores each year and eventually fade away.

Travel hub stores are a different story - people on the move want drinks, snacks, books, magazines, etc. Until they get competition in Motorway service stations, airports and railway stations, they'll continue to do well from "hostage" customers (i.e. nowhere else to shop!).

Debenhams stores have been pretty awful for many years. The "department store" philosophy is fine for people who like browsing and have a couple of hours spare, but for busy people who want "in and out", they're dire.

I think it was the last time I went in, I just wanted a pair of simple jeans. Instead of the sensible store layout of having all their jeans in one area, I had to go up and down between floors looking at each "franchise", and was rapidly losing the will to live. I kept asking shop assistants but they just kept vaguely pointing me to yet another franchise area. After what must have been an hour, I'd had enough, and gave up. On my way out, I noticed a random wheeled clothes rack almost hidden in a dark corner, that had jeans on - I went and looked, and yes, they were simple black jeans.

My OH said the same about them. He always used to buy a "winter coat" every year - he's a big guy, and Debenhams were one of the only High Street stores doing his size. He's another "in and out" shopper. Last time he tried, he said the same - trailing all over the store seeking out the coats in each franchise and he did give up in the end without buying.

Our Debenhams closed about 4 months ago, I was really sad to see it go.
Smiths on the other hand is still there. I imagine that a lot of people solely go in for the Post Office

As others have said, Debenhams isn’t bad for kids clothes - and certainly carries a more affordable range (Blue Zoo) than John Lewis. I will miss it for that if it goes under.

I like both although find WH Smith overpriced

I hate our local Smith's. Cluttered, oppressive, some shelves permanently empty yet there always seem to be random "display" baskets of tat obstructing the aisles - why on earth don't they put them on the shelves?!
All the aisles are ridiculously narrow, which must exclude people with pushchairs or mobility problems.

But the one in the city centre is actually (relatively) great. Spacious, wide selection. We got all dd's stationery to start secondary there.

Can't bear the lighting in WHS. It's so dark it's as if it's working off an emergency generator. I hardly go in now. It's vastly overpriced. I once bought a CD there and saw it somewhere else pounds cheaper. I was so annoyed I wrote to head office who refunded the difference. When I ordered books from them they always took weeks to arrive whereas other bookshops would have them in a couple of days. They never have what you want. I tried to buy a replacement nib for a fountain pen. They had nibs for Parker pens but not their own brand. It used to be busy. It isn't nowalthough it recently became the home for the main post office. Even that's inconvenient because you have to pay to park anywhere near it.

Agree that WH Smiths is a train wreck. There is nothing appealing about it as a shop and I only go in when there are no alternatives. Staff seem to be really unfriendly now (Which I assume is down to shitty management). It used to at least be browsable and pleasant in the 80s/90s.

Debenhams, we used to get school uniform and towels and bedding there when I was a kid but I always found it dull. Not awful, but nothing I really loved. Clothes I only wear for work. Stuff I’d buy for people I don’t know well. That hasn’t changed but some of the stores, as others have said, look like a jumble sale/discount rack. Too much work to shop in for too little return.

I think W H Smiths keeps going because most Post Offices have closed down and moved into Smiths.
I sometimes buy from Debenhams but my local store has been looking run down and scruffy for some time which is offputting. The other branch near me did not reopen after the first lockdown.

WH Smith needs someone brave to go in and clear out all the extraneous clutter (their shops are so crammed with stuff you can barely move). Slim it all right down and pare it back to good quality cards, stationery, books and all those magazines you can’t get anywhere else. It needs serious decluttering and refurb-ing so it loses that grimy look. I used to work in WH Smith years ago (loved it) and it makes me sad that they have gone down the ‘piles of crap’ route. Look at how popular places like Paperchase are - people are happy to spend money on stationery if it’s thoughtfully displayed, carefully chosen and interesting.

In the 1980s/1990s Smiths was the go to shop for school stationery, magazines, and some music CDs (although I think Woolworths was cheaper)
It feels like they havent really noticed that paper chase, most large supermarkets, wilkos (and if you like bright colours and overpriced stuff) Smiggle are all competing for the stationery market....
No one really buys CDs or DVDs any more and even with their on going 3 for 2 for everything else (or buy one , and get one half price) offers they're nearly always more expensive than other places where you can buy one item without having to throw in something else (that you dont really want) just to get the price to seem reasonable.

This sounds a bit old person ish but I feel a lot of shops feel the need to diversify and sell EVERYTHING ....but end up offering a poor choice of what they're known for.
I cant think anyone would immediately think of WH Smith's when they want a bar of chocolate, or a bottle of water (unless you are at an airport or service station with no choice) , or really if they wanted a choice of toys (there isnt room to have everything there)
Same with 2 of our local supermarkets. They are pretty small but have aisles devoted to candles, bedding and bath towels, or large displays of microwaves and TVs. Fine if it's a superstore but when it's a small high street store it's better to have a decent selection of food, or household products - the stuff you actually want to get in the supermarket!

Lots like it’s finally the end for Debenhams. It’s really sad for all the staff.

I think management are to blame for this they knew something needed to change when they fell into administration in 2019. But the stores haven’t changed one bit.