TGJones

Philly_Q

thecolourbox said:

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

Yes, as I'd already said at the top of the thread!  All I was pointing out was that it's not just a change of name, the business isn't owned by WHS any more.

LightB4sound

Quickest rebrand in history. Open Word, choose font, type ‘TG Jones, badly format. Job done.

 This feels like accelerated decline and an asset strip by the new owners. It’s the property they wanted. 

victorludorum

The change of name has done only one thing, and that is to accelerate their demise. Truly awful idea that someone got paid for.

rze99

Expensive place to pick up essentials. I don’t use them and so,  if they close, so be it. 

Whitecat

Sporky said:

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

... or go to any major airport or train station. Those shops were profitable and were thus kept by the original owners while they spun off the loss-makers and presumably forced the name change on them.

stickyfiddle

SteveRobinson said:

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

It’s basically tradition at this point

english_bob

matt_sefton said:

My first job as a student was working in the record department at WH Smith in Eldon Square in Newcastle.

My favourite WH Smith related memory is of buying something from the record counter in my local Smiths back in the 90s just as one of the middle aged women behind the counter was thinking out loud about putting on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack on the shop stereo. I told her she probably shouldn't.

Looking back, it would have been much funnier to keep quiet.

For anyone who doesn't know, here's how it starts:

boogieman

I’m always amazed that WH Smiths have survived this long. They were a bit like Woolworths in the way that they stocked bits and pieces of a huge range of things, but nothing in any depth. After they stopped selling CDs and DVD’s their last surviving profitable line seemed to be books, but Amazon and the supermarkets have cherry picked the best seller market and undercut them massively on price. (I can see Waterstones going before too long too.) I guess Smiths must be just about hanging on through their airport and station shops. 

Sporky

The thing Waterstones have over Smiths is the the shops are nice.

Philly_Q

boogieman said:

I’m always amazed that WH Smiths have survived this long. They were a bit like Woolworths in the way that they stocked bits and pieces of a huge range of things, but nothing in any depth. After they stopped selling CDs and DVD’s their last surviving profitable line seemed to be books, but Amazon and the supermarkets have cherry picked the best seller market and undercut them massively on price. (I can see Waterstones going before too long too.) I guess Smiths must be just about hanging on through their airport and station shops. 

I don't know what Waterstones' accounts look like, but apparently there has been a return to people wanting to buy real books over digital editions, including beautiful new editions of classics - rather like the upsurge of vinyl with music fans.  Waterstones offer a very pleasant shopping environment, you can take your time browsing, you can even sit and read... the big store on Piccadilly is a wonderful place.

I was very surprised a couple of years ago when Waterstones opened a store in my local high street, in a location which was previously a Barclays bank and before that the Post Office.  I don't know how well it's doing, but the last thing I expected to see locally was a bookshop.  I hope it's there for a long time...

I also get the feeling there's a bit of a backlash against Amazon.  They're the easiest place to go, but they're not always the cheapest any more and their website is badly organised, lacking in product information and dragged down by dodgy Marketplace sellers.  I certainly look for alternative places to buy things, when I can.

TTony

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. 

That's the usual game plan, but there has to be some sort of asset value to attract the debt financing.  In the case of WHJones, not sure there's any asset value left (any property asset will have been sold off long ago and High St leases are generally liability rather than asset these days), no brand value, and little in the way of likely future cash flow.

So the buyers must have a different cunning plan this time.

thecolourbox

TTony said:

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. 

That's the usual game plan, but there has to be some sort of asset value to attract the debt financing.  In the case of WHJones, not sure there's any asset value left (any property asset will have been sold off long ago and High St leases are generally liability rather than asset these days), no brand value, and little in the way of likely future cash flow.

So the buyers must have a different cunning plan this time.

Are they selling plastic flags maybe?

TTony

boogieman said:

(I can see Waterstones going before too long too.) I guess Smiths must be just about hanging on through their airport and station shops. 

I believe Waterstones are doing reasonably well.

Good footfall in the shops, and a decent online service.  IME, staff are knowledgeable, happy and engaged, not the usual retail staff.  Yes, you can generally buy the same items cheaper from Amazon, but there's still a good market that values being able to browse physical bookshelves.  I've impulse bought a lot more in there than I have on Amazon.


The Smiths airport/train outlets are significantly profitable, with a pretty captive market.  Expensive, but imagine the costs of running a retail outlet in an airport ...

matt_sefton

Newcastle’s Waterstones in the Emerson Chambers building is one of the city’s most beautiful buildings and is a fantastic place to spend an hour or two. I’m glad to hear books might be making a comeback. It’s been extremely depressing trying to find new homes for the thousands of books I had to clear from my parents house. I was brought up that books were special and to be treasured. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore sadly.

EricTheWeary

Just seen an ad for TG Jones. Looked a lot like WH Smith but with a bit of Toys R Us up a corner. I was reminiscing a couple of days ago about poor customer service and how Toys R Us were awful, so I look forward to revisiting that experience. 
If they couldn't make a profit out of WH Smith stores I'm struggling to understand what the business model is for something near identical. However, as my local Smiths is still empty next to a still empty former Wilko it would be nice to see something there. 

Dominic

I always remember that as kids it was a lot easier to go Nicking in Woolworths than WH Smith but we had a huge Martin ,the Newsagent which provided many a copy of Penthouse or Playboy gratuitously .

Philly_Q

EricTheWeary said:

Just seen an ad for TG Jones. Looked a lot like WH Smith but with a bit of Toys R Us up a corner. I was reminiscing a couple of days ago about poor customer service and how Toys R Us were awful, so I look forward to revisiting that experience. 
If they couldn't make a profit out of WH Smith stores I'm struggling to understand what the business model is for something near identical. However, as my local Smiths is still empty next to a still empty former Wilko it would be nice to see something there. 

Sorry to hear you didn't "even" get a TGJones.  Empty shopfronts make town centres depressing.

Sporky

As I recall the property owners would rather have them empty than let them at lower rates, as the value of the portfolio is based on the achievable lease rates.

That an empty unit is generating zero income isn't included in the calculations they use. 

Pjon

My first job was at WH Smith, 1984-87. It was brilliant - loads of young people my age, girls, books (I worked in the book department), money, girls, no stress other than when I forgot to turn up for a shift and even that was laughed off, girls. I started as a shy 16 year old and left as a slightly less shy 18 year old, having managed to not go out with any of those girls!

Pjon

TTony said:

The Smiths airport/train outlets are significantly profitable, with a pretty captive market.  Expensive, but imagine the costs of running a retail outlet in an airport ...

Smiths have a shop in our local hospital and I really resent the price gouging when they are the only option. I bought my ill father some chocolate biscuits, a packet of crisps, Lucozade and a pack of humbugs last week - £10.