WH Smith’s exits UK high street, is now TGJones

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Worth saying again that you’ll still see Smiths at all the big train stations, in the hospitals, at the airport, it’s not vanishing completely and it’s not going online only. It’s just shedding its high street arm. 85% of its profits come from the travel arm, the high street bit has been a drag on its profitability for years.

The new owners purchased the high street branches for a knock down 76 million pounds.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3n3en7gppo
 
For much of the 70s the Smiths in Oxford's Cornmarket had a gent in a pinstriped suit to deter the likes of me from peaking in magazines.
Sadly these days the mag racks are often blocked by readers much like a pub bar.
 
CJGibson said:
Menzies or 'Mingez'?
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602202bf105da3ba40fe314e750cceb9adbb5c7b.gif
 
Menzies always seemed to sell more books than Smiths did (and Smiths used to have a far larger selection than they have in recent years). I still have at least one Menzies purchase on my shelves (for sentimental reasons, I don't actually refer to it much these days).
They also used to come up with obscure Lego sets that usually only the UK Lego Club could get hold of in the UK.
 
That was why I liked the big Menzies store in Princess Street Edinburgh Hood, those were the days. :(
 
On Menzies or Mingez, or what a little rummage on internet will get you.
From http://leepers.us/mtvoid/2015/VOID0710.htm
I enjoyed the discussion on the pronunciation of names in Friday 3July's MT VOID. I have some comments that may be of interest:
  1. Even in Scotland, some pronounce Menzies as "men-zez" and some as "Minge-ez" and yet others "Ming-ez". You have to ask which to use.
  2. The Scottish grouse called the capercailzie is often writtencapercaillie; but it is pronounced "kape-er-cay-lee".
  3. Towcester in England is "toaster", just as Worcester is "wooster" and Bicester is "biss-ter".
  4. Athens, Georgia, is "ath-ens" with the ath as in bath; but Athens, Illinois, is "ay-thins", with the ay as in bay.
  5. Cairo, Egypt, is "kye-roe", but Cairo, Illinois, is "kay-ro" as in Karo Syrup.
  6. Up to and past the late-'60s moon landings, the BBC would pronounce Houston, Texas, as "Hoose-ton", but I understand now they say "hyus-ton", i.e., like Euston Station but with an H preceding it, same as we do.
  7. I've heard Dalziel pronounced "Dal-yell". never "dal-zeal", and not "deal" or "de-al" either.
  8. The British pronunciations "zed" and "shed-yule" for Z and schedule are historically more justified than American "zee" and "sked-yule", but both are acceptable, and neither will change. When I was teaching my son, whose mother is British, the alphabet decades ago, I would sing the Alphabet Song, but end it with:
    Q, R, S, and T, U V,
    W, and X, Y, Zee,
    Or, as it is sometimes said,
    W, and X, Y, Zed.
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I always thought that it was pronounced Ming-Es Arjen, but I suppose there is a million different ways of how to pronounce it.
 
Not being a native speaker of English, I have often been caught out pronouncing British names. It's just one of those things. Natives are usually happy to gently correct me, even happier when I remember.
 
FighterJock said:
I always thought that it was pronounced Ming-Es ...
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Time to bring back the ȝ (yogh) in Menȝies? :D

This made-up name 'TGJones' rebranding strikes me as odd. But I'm curious as to how Brits are responding to the rebranding.
 
Arjen said:
Natives are usually happy to gently correct me, even happier when I remember.
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A fair number of us get it wrong as well. It's a useful way of telling who's local to a hyperspecific part of the country and who's merely visiting for a generation or three.
Apophenia said:
This made-up name 'TGJones' rebranding strikes me as odd. But I'm curious as to how Brits are responding to the rebranding.
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I suspect most Brits had forgotten they existed outside railway stations and airports. There's a reason the high street branches have been sold off...
 
Arjen said:
Not being a native speaker of English, I have often been caught out pronouncing British names. It's just one of those things. Natives are usually happy to gently correct me, even happier when I remember.
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Try these place names

Avoch
Findochty
Footdee
Milngavie
 
It’ll completely redefine the UK market. Supermarkets will carry on with the ladies titles and TV weeklies, beyond that I don’t think anything will be safe. Few magazines can survive solely on subscriptions, most newsagents have become convenience stores, it’ll remove the shopfront for them all. It’ll be a bloodbath. Specialist magazines like aviation, astronomy and spaceflight etc could be especially badly impacted by this news.

Up to 150 former WHSmith high street stores to close​

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clypzvqzqd7o?app-referrer=deep-link
 
The largest WH. Smith, oops TJ. Hughes store in Glasgow (complete with its Post Office franchise within) on the cities Sauchiehall St. has closed for business too (the street, like the city itself has become somewhat of an economic blight) The one at Glasgow Central Station is also closed due to a nearby fire a month or so back. I guess my regular magazine and bookazine purchases will be no more
 
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FighterJock said:
I always thought that it was pronounced Ming-Es Arjen, but I suppose there is a million different ways of how to pronounce it.
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In London it was typically Men-zees through ignorance.

In New Zealand there's a cigarette brand "Pall Mall" with an illustration of the street Pall Mall on it, but the pronouncation is inevitably "Paul Maul" instead of the correct "Pal Mal".
 
You'd be hard pushed to find the magazines in my local Jones, right at the back of the store in the corner, literally a few shelves squeezed in beside the Toys "r" Us section. You wonder why they bother when 80% of the floorspace is just filled with over-priced tat and snacks.
 
When I was in London this Christmas, the TG Jones in various locations and the (WHSmiths at London Bridge) were very depressing in this respect.
Woolwich, where my mum lives, has no magazines for sale except the Radio Times and a random few kids and women's magazines anywhere. The only books for sale in The Works were annuals and novels.

I did visit Romford and that branch was like a flashback to 2015 - lots of magazines, prominently displayed. So I guess it might vary by branch?
 
Modella Capital, a private equity company, is having a bad year, at least publicity wise.

Last year they acquired the Claire's fashion accessory chain out of Administration. Modella put it into Administration again in January 2026 and announced the closure of all 154 standalone stores in April, leaving only the concession outlets to operate under the brand name.

Now the 480 TG Jones stores, also bought by Modella last year out of the WH Smith group, gets the private equity restructuring treatment. It seems that part of their purchase agreement was to keep all the stores open for 12-15 months, a time period that expires in June at the latest. The April announcement of closures gives time for the redundancy discussions to take place.

The private equity boys historically buy up already failing businesses in the hope that wielding the axe will somehow turn the business around allowing them to exit after a few years showing a healthy profit. So none of this is really a surprise, at least to me. Meanwhile everyone else involved loses out, employees, ordinary creditors etc. It is high risk high reward strategy but one that doesn't always go according to plan, and one that given the current state of our high streets is maybe riskier still. Mind you, rebranding all the stores externally, if not internally, must have cost them a packet. Again that must have been part of the acquisition deal. That, conveniently, distances the WH Smith brand name from the current closures.

One of the assets TG Jones acquired was the freehold of the WH Smith HQ building in Swindon. Apparently that already has planning permission for demolition and redevelopment for housing. So someone is going to make a packet from that.

But there are wider consequences. Most high street companies don't own their properties, they rent them from investment companies and pension funds. Many (most?) are seeking to renegotiate rents downwards to cut costs. The property values are based on the future rental income. Less rent = less value and more chance of investment companies getting into financial difficulties with their own banks over the level of their own borrowings. Or pension funds having to reassess the level of future pensions they might be able to pay out.

So while we all like to save money buying online through Amazon, Temu etc the knock on effects through the wider economy often go unnoticed until it is too late.
 
not sure if our local TGJ is closing but there's a Post Office branch at the back of the store, so that may well have to move if the hosting store closes.
 
The demise of the magazine rack of specialist publications at Smaugs sorry Jabbas will remove a weekly source of temptation. But it may open up a niche which another shop may find it worth filling.
As others have commented the shops in question have been in a long slow death spiral.
At the same time online surfing has got harder with paywalls or forced registration before you can see content.
As often the only answer is DRINK!
 
EwenS said:
The private equity boys historically buy up already failing businesses in the hope that wielding the axe will somehow turn the business around allowing them to exit after a few years showing a healthy profit.
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Oh PE hasn't operated like that for years. Nowadays the PE firm loads the portfolio company with debt to pay themselves dividends, while it struggles along like a zombie.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividendrecap.asp
 
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My local shop is closing down soon. A bit of a shame as it is the only bookseller in town but their prices just don't compete with Tesco or Amazon.
Even the printer paper, ink and stationary on 40% Sale costs more than the likes of any other store.

But selling the site will raise a few quid. I can recall when it was Clarks Shoes and had a mezzanine level for the mens shoes. Got my first school shoes in there IIRC.
 
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