WHSmith is set to close another ten shops over the next few months, after the retailer confirmed it could sell off its high street stores.
The books and stationery firm – which has around 500 UK stores – revealed last month that it was exploring “a possible sale” of its high street estate, as it focuses its attention on its travel locations, so shops in airports and train stations.
WHSmith has already shut eight shops this year, in locations including Basingstoke, Winton, Rhyl, and Bolton – but a further ten stores will soon be pulling down the shutters for good, in a major blow for shoppers. The next store to close will be the Accrington, Lancashire branch, which will shut for the final time on March 15.
A further six shops – including in Halstead, Halesowen, Diss, Newport, Woolwich and Haverhill – will close in April, following by two more branches (Stockton and Oldham) in May. Another shop in Orpington is also on the closure list, according to The Sun, but no set date has been announced yet.
It comes after WHSmith ruled out opening any more new UK high street stores in an update in June 2023, then in November 2024, the retailer confirmed it had closed 14 sites. In a statement released in November, the company said it has around 470 store leases due for renewal over the next three years, including 100 where it is in active negotiations with the landlord.
WHSmith wants to expand its travel stores and aims to open around three to eight new shops on a net basis. WHSmith said last year: “As we grow travel, the high street division will become a smaller part of the overall group. We only renew a lease where we are confident of delivering economic value over the life of that lease.”
WHSmith has also rolled out Toys R Us concessions across its stores, including 37 that launched before Christmas. It also recently announced it is bringing back vinyl records for the first time in more than 30 years across 80 high street shops and launched a range of festive sandwiches to tap into growing demand for food across its stores.
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