TGJones

Philly_Q

Today, for the first time, I visited what used to be my local WHSmith shop, now rebranded as TGJones.

They basically haven't changed anything, other than (presumably) to remove WHSmith branded items.  The shop hasn't been refurbished at all, everything is in exactly the same place as it was before.  But - presumably because I was expecting a "new" shop - all the tatty carpets and fittings are suddenly much more noticeable than they were before.

It's really quite depressing.

matt_sefton

My first job as a student was working in the record department at WH Smith in Eldon Square in Newcastle. It was a great place to work. The high street is doomed these days.

Philly_Q

A couple of months ago I went into the TGJones in Aylesbury, which according to Wikipedia was their first branded store in the country.  It was a hot day and I was just looking for somewhere a bit cooler, but... no air con.

The high street is indeed doomed.  I'm really quite sad about WHSmith.  Founded in 1792!  At least they still have their shops at stations and airports.

hollywoodrox

Philly_Q said:

A couple of months ago I went into the TGJones in Aylesbury, which according to Wikipedia was their first branded store in the country.  It was a hot day and I was just looking for somewhere a bit cooler, but... no air con.

The high street is indeed doomed.  I'm really quite sad about WHSmith.  Founded in 1792!  At least they still have their shops at stations and airports.

I remember Menzies & Martins too , my fave was large local  newsagents that had a sign up in the 70s saying NSS newsagents  I think it was an orange light up sign . Then the tiny little ones that sold all sorts of goodies like Richardsons of Sheffield. Pen knives of all different types on a cardboard display  , caps for cap guns  and those yellow plastic Vulcan aeroplanes you launched with an elastic band that flew round brilliantly in a wide circle 

Philly_Q

hollywoodrox said:

Philly_Q said:

A couple of months ago I went into the TGJones in Aylesbury, which according to Wikipedia was their first branded store in the country.  It was a hot day and I was just looking for somewhere a bit cooler, but... no air con.

The high street is indeed doomed.  I'm really quite sad about WHSmith.  Founded in 1792!  At least they still have their shops at stations and airports.

I remember Menzies & Martins too , my fave was large local  newsagents that had a sign up in the 70s saying NSS newsagents  I think it was an orange light up sign . Then the tiny little ones that sold all sorts of goodies like Richardsons of Sheffield. Pen knives of all different types on a cardboard display  , caps for cap guns  and those yellow plastic Vulcan aeroplanes you launched with an elastic band that flew round brilliantly in a wide circle 

We had all those when I was a kid, and they weren't parts of chains, they were just independent newsagents.  Our local newsagent was a guy called Edwin J. Wearne, looked a bit like Jack Nance in Eraserhead.  His shop was like the centre of our universe.  Presumably long, long gone.

Neil

Shame about WH Smiths, they were a wonderland to a much younger me. 

Sporky

If anyone misses WH Smith, there's still one in Petersfield, not yet rebranded. 

NickBotfield

Relevant:

merlin

W.H. Smith & Son, if you don't mind. 

Emp_Fab

NickBotfield said:

Relevant:

Damn right.  The cnuts wanted £4.15 for a 500ml bottle of Pepsi Max at Cardiff airport.  Four pounds fifteen!!!

Rob1742

I feel sorry for them, they operate in several declining markets and so there is only one way this will go.

Cards, newspapers, jigsaws and magazines must take up half the store and all will perform in decline year on year. 

Stationary will be declining too as people click to buy it on line.

The only thing they really have is books, which I think have been doing well after the failed threat of the kindle, however WH Smith or TG Jones don’t do it anywhere near as good as Waterstones.

Its a real shame, but I can’t see a way out for this business. 

Rob1742

Was thinking about this yesterday by the way when we went in one, made me think of the old newsagents. 

We all are aware of Blockbuster, Woolworth and C&A going, but the local newsagents just slowly disappeared over time.

My missus still picks up a local paper, but our town must stock like 40 or 50 a day in total, but in the 80’s we would be selling close to 2000 across the town.

I used to work in one back in the day, our estate store would sell 400 a day of the local rag. 

Offset

Philly_Q said:

Our local newsagent was a guy called Edwin J. Wearne, looked a bit like Jack Nance in Eraserhead.

Now that is quite some look.

dindude

The high street model was a disaster in recent years, still way too high prices for drinks, snacks, stationary etc, you just about suck it up if you’re trapped in an airport with no alternative, but they applied a similar model to the high street seemingly forgetting that The Works was across the road doing the same thing for 1/4 of the price.

If TG Jones don’t change the pricing structure, and offer an improved range of products, the will be gone in a year - and they will of course blame the economic climate like most businesses who don’t adapt. 

steveledzep

^  Yes, their business is standing still.....stationary!

thecolourbox

WH Smith was always depressing to me so it's not that much of a suprise that they still are after changing their name to sound like a firm of accountants. Mostly just middle aged men reading the magazines in the store rather than buying them, overpriced stationery and autobiographies everywhere

Philly_Q

thecolourbox said:

WH Smith was always depressing to me so it's not that much of a suprise that they still are after changing their name to sound like a firm of accountants. Mostly just middle aged men reading the magazines in the store rather than buying them, overpriced stationery and autobiographies everywhere

It's not just a change of name, they've actually sold the high street part of the business to a private equity company, Modella Capital Limited, who've rebranded as TGJones, which is a completely made-up name intended to feel similar to WHSmith.

Having said that, I've just looked on the TGJones website and they're selling WHSmith 2026 diaries (at much higher prices than last year), so I don't know if that's an acquisition of existing stock or if they'll continue to sell WHSmith products.

I do wonder how long it will last.  It felt like a dying business and it still does.

Sporky

Presumably it was bought in order to load it with debt and declare it bankrupt, as is the standard approach of private equity. 

SteveRobinson

Sporky said:

Presumably it was bought in order to load it with debt and declare it bankrupt, as is the standard approach of private equity. 

Bonuses for the bosses, redundancies for the staff

merlin

I'm never going to eat a TGJones meal deal. 

Thank Fuck it's Friday. We are Americans. 

thecolourbox

Philly_Q said:

thecolourbox said:

WH Smith was always depressing to me so it's not that much of a suprise that they still are after changing their name to sound like a firm of accountants. Mostly just middle aged men reading the magazines in the store rather than buying them, overpriced stationery and autobiographies everywhere

It's not just a change of name, they've actually sold the high street part of the business to a private equity company, Modella Capital Limited, who've rebranded as TGJones, which is a completely made-up name intended to feel similar to WHSmith.

Having said that, I've just looked on the TGJones website and they're selling WHSmith 2026 diaries (at much higher prices than last year), so I don't know if that's an acquisition of existing stock or if they'll continue to sell WHSmith products.

I do wonder how long it will last.  It felt like a dying business and it still does.

Yeah but it's essentially the same thing isn't it...