good riddance (they sacked me for giving perfectly good food destined for the bin to homeless people)
BingeLurker on
I love that the title says WHSmith even after the rebrand.
Really interested in why the group that bought the stores bought them. It seemed obvious to me that their high street stores were burning cash and had no chance of a comeback.
Superb_Landscape8734 on
I think airports and service stations are the only thing that will keep them alive. Everything they sell has always been a rip off.
PoggleRebecca on
So what about the ones with post offices inside them? Is that another previously local service we’ve all got to travel 15 miles to go to now?
[deleted] on
[deleted]
shrek-hentai-69 on
Physical stores have lost the battle against online shopping hard, no point for most people to go out to buy something when you can find the same thing (often cheaper) on amazon. Unless you need something within the day of course.
buffayrachel on
> The private equity firm said the challenges were partly due to the “forced” name change, saying that it negatively impacted public awareness of the brand.
Yeah, who could’ve told you that changing the name of a legacy uk brand was not the move??
buffayrachel on
> Claire’s stopped trading last month, closing all 154 standalone stores and making 1,300 staff redundant.
Modella Capital had purchased Claire’s in September 2025 after the business fell into administration, but later placed the jewellery and accessories chain into administration itself after an “alarmingly” low Christmas trading period.
Modella Capital also owns Hobbycraft.
So that’s both former WHSmith and Claire’s that are now closing after being bought by Modella Capital. Which now also own HobbyCraft. Please don’t close my HobbyCraft😢
Longjumping_Sun_5766 on
More vape shops and barbers and mini marts? Can’t wait!
Toothfairy29 on
It’s almost like no one wants grossly overpriced stationery and Buxton water
CyberpunkAesthetics on
WHSmiths do well in transport hubs, but not on the high street, I think because of the internet and supermarkets. As a kid my parents called them a bookshop; but even then they sold more stationery, and the books were mainly travel and learning materials. People purchase books now online, and every supermarket has stationery. And the latest faddish books like they sell at Waterstones, really.
NeilSilva93 on
I don’t think I’ve been in a WH Smith for at least twenty-odd years.
lemonchemistry on
Is there a store closure list floating around. Our cities main post office is inside the old WHsmith so there’s some obvious implications if they were to shut. It’s also the only reason why I’d go in there.
wjw75 on
>[We bring many decades of retail experience, ideas and innovative solutions. We speak the retail language and relate to the challenges retailers face](https://www.modellacapital.com/our-team/)
Funny how the idea is always “buy a struggling company”, and the innovative solution is always “asset strip and liquidate”.
DoctorKonks on
Yet another iconic British brand being destroyed by private equity firms.
GunstarGreen on
Im conflicted. I hate seeing people lose jobs and I hate to see another big bay on my high street go empty. But I don’t use the store because its always a complete and utter shit tip. The merchandising in these places is god awful. They have piles of old tat that they can’t shift just littering the place. And then they’ll have a pile of shelves practically empty. I honestly think its one of the least cared-for brands I can think of.
-Enrique on
Surely everyone could see this coming a mile off. Modella were either being disingenuous or delusional when they talked about opening more stores and rejuvenating the business. The only reason WHS could maintain such a large estate was because they had cut costs to the bone, scraping profits off the back of underpaid sales assistants basically running the stores and charging premium prices for a poor shopping experience.
It’s sad because I worked for the company for a few years and there’s a lot of very dedicated staff members, many of whom have been there for donkeys years and took genuine pride in their stores with no support from the centre. There was still a lot of loyalty to the shops from the older generation as well who would be in there every day. It just isn’t sustainable though to run a business the way they have run it and when everything you sell is a declining market.
No-Degree-8965 on
Now even more pessure on the existing legitmate high street shops to make up shortfall in business rates revenues.
Reesy on
Yeah saw this coming! How WH Smith has lasted this long is crazy anyway, always been crazy ass expensive
PieSupper on
Really bad news for niche publications like 2000AD. TG Jones is the only stockist in my 25k population town. The other local shops only stock ~10 titles + grandads jazz mags.
IlluminatedCookie on
Nothing new. They were sold with the terms that they couldn’t sell off the shops for a year. That’s up now and here we are.
AffectionatePop05 on
A couple of years ago, when I smoked, they charged £25 for a pack of 20 in King’s Cross station. That was double the normal price.
Absolute charlatans who deserve to be replaced.
Dissidant on
Unfortunate for the staff, though I can’t see how their locations break even anymore aside from the ones in hospitals, airports or places like that.
davemee on
This is what you get for censoring Private Eye’s mockery of the press coverage of Diana Spencer’s death, Smith.
24 Comments
good riddance (they sacked me for giving perfectly good food destined for the bin to homeless people)
I love that the title says WHSmith even after the rebrand.
Really interested in why the group that bought the stores bought them. It seemed obvious to me that their high street stores were burning cash and had no chance of a comeback.
I think airports and service stations are the only thing that will keep them alive. Everything they sell has always been a rip off.
So what about the ones with post offices inside them? Is that another previously local service we’ve all got to travel 15 miles to go to now?
[deleted]
Physical stores have lost the battle against online shopping hard, no point for most people to go out to buy something when you can find the same thing (often cheaper) on amazon. Unless you need something within the day of course.
> The private equity firm said the challenges were partly due to the “forced” name change, saying that it negatively impacted public awareness of the brand.
Yeah, who could’ve told you that changing the name of a legacy uk brand was not the move??
> Claire’s stopped trading last month, closing all 154 standalone stores and making 1,300 staff redundant.
Modella Capital had purchased Claire’s in September 2025 after the business fell into administration, but later placed the jewellery and accessories chain into administration itself after an “alarmingly” low Christmas trading period.
Modella Capital also owns Hobbycraft.
So that’s both former WHSmith and Claire’s that are now closing after being bought by Modella Capital. Which now also own HobbyCraft. Please don’t close my HobbyCraft😢
More vape shops and barbers and mini marts? Can’t wait!
It’s almost like no one wants grossly overpriced stationery and Buxton water
WHSmiths do well in transport hubs, but not on the high street, I think because of the internet and supermarkets. As a kid my parents called them a bookshop; but even then they sold more stationery, and the books were mainly travel and learning materials. People purchase books now online, and every supermarket has stationery. And the latest faddish books like they sell at Waterstones, really.
I don’t think I’ve been in a WH Smith for at least twenty-odd years.
Is there a store closure list floating around. Our cities main post office is inside the old WHsmith so there’s some obvious implications if they were to shut. It’s also the only reason why I’d go in there.
>[We bring many decades of retail experience, ideas and innovative solutions. We speak the retail language and relate to the challenges retailers face](https://www.modellacapital.com/our-team/)
Funny how the idea is always “buy a struggling company”, and the innovative solution is always “asset strip and liquidate”.
Yet another iconic British brand being destroyed by private equity firms.
Im conflicted. I hate seeing people lose jobs and I hate to see another big bay on my high street go empty. But I don’t use the store because its always a complete and utter shit tip. The merchandising in these places is god awful. They have piles of old tat that they can’t shift just littering the place. And then they’ll have a pile of shelves practically empty. I honestly think its one of the least cared-for brands I can think of.
Surely everyone could see this coming a mile off. Modella were either being disingenuous or delusional when they talked about opening more stores and rejuvenating the business. The only reason WHS could maintain such a large estate was because they had cut costs to the bone, scraping profits off the back of underpaid sales assistants basically running the stores and charging premium prices for a poor shopping experience.
It’s sad because I worked for the company for a few years and there’s a lot of very dedicated staff members, many of whom have been there for donkeys years and took genuine pride in their stores with no support from the centre. There was still a lot of loyalty to the shops from the older generation as well who would be in there every day. It just isn’t sustainable though to run a business the way they have run it and when everything you sell is a declining market.
Now even more pessure on the existing legitmate high street shops to make up shortfall in business rates revenues.
Yeah saw this coming! How WH Smith has lasted this long is crazy anyway, always been crazy ass expensive
Really bad news for niche publications like 2000AD. TG Jones is the only stockist in my 25k population town. The other local shops only stock ~10 titles + grandads jazz mags.
Nothing new. They were sold with the terms that they couldn’t sell off the shops for a year. That’s up now and here we are.
A couple of years ago, when I smoked, they charged £25 for a pack of 20 in King’s Cross station. That was double the normal price.
Absolute charlatans who deserve to be replaced.
Unfortunate for the staff, though I can’t see how their locations break even anymore aside from the ones in hospitals, airports or places like that.
This is what you get for censoring Private Eye’s mockery of the press coverage of Diana Spencer’s death, Smith.