WH Smith's voted Britain's Worst Retailer

There are two head office operations of WH Smith: one for high street, one for travel (airports, train stations).

Because of this, they don't have anywhere near as much buying power as they could have. Has always struck me as total laziness that they wouldn't integrate the two set-ups.

I still like to pop into WH Smith’s every now and then to browse magazines but I can’t remember the last time I bought anything from one

Last edited by Jamo3103 on Mon May 28, 2018 5:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I used to love WH Smith's when I was a kid, the magazine and comics selection was always amazing and leagues ahead of what everywhere else offered. I remember a few used to offer a decent selection of games too, I bought quite a lot of Game Boy games from them back in the day because they used to quite frequently have them on 3 for 2. :toot:

Still remember the very first games I bought on that offer, Link's Awakening, Kirby's Dreamland and Wave Race 8-)

It's a shame they're not what they were but you could say the same for loads of places on the high street, can't say I really go in anymore though unless I'm at the airport.

I travel a lot which means I get magazines and drinks and so on from them. Their confectionary prices are laughable so I don’t touch that. The drinks are mostly because I’m held hostage to that markup anyway. The magazines only rarely have the stuff I’m interested in - depending on what I’m in the mood for, I can usually get the newspaper I want, but sometimes they don’t even have Private Eye or the train magazines I like to read.

All in all, they’re only mediocre at doing what they do. I would miss them if they disappeared though.

Horrible shop and tend to be the gooseberry fool heap shop in stations so scalp the gooseberry fool out of you for everything "because station,"

Horrible shop and tend to be the gooseberry fool heap shop in stations so scalp the gooseberry fool out of you for everything "because station,"

Only good thing I can say about both my local WHS is that at least the station one sells Reese's PB Cups at a reasonable price. (99p for a 3 cup bar.) Which is still pricey but that's what they cost at speciality import shops so ... *shrug*. But the local big store... wow. It's dingy and cramped to buggery. Awful layout and lighting.

tbh what's the point in even visiting the magazine section of a store when you know you won't find ONM there anymore amrite

Thing is, I imagine they are a bit more recession proof than most because they sell things that most people won't buy online. Art materials, magazines, drinks, chocolate, books are all things you the majority of people will buy in a bricks and mortar store. I just wish they didn't show their customers such contempt and offered a better service. The whole 'fleecing you because you just happen to be at a train station' is oh so true. I love the fact WH Smith use that as such a deliberate tactic and then get all arsey when their customers point it out!

To be fair the staff don't set the price so telling them is a bit pointless.

I like WHSmiths but since I no longer need stationary I rarely go there. I only go in for the Post Office these days which I find very useful as it seems to be open for longer hours, even on a Sunday.
Have to say though I don't believe my local branch has been properly renovated ever. I wonder how long it will be before they go into administration too.

Many many MANY years ago, they had the best computer section with tons of speccy games and I would spend hours browsing the (codemasters) budget range. I still remember buying Robocop +3 version for £9.99!! They were also great at being specialists stationary stuff and my school stuff was a walking advert for them.

Now they are just a complete rip off. My corner shops are cheaper and better value ffs and it isn’t a massive chain either. That is not right.

TigaSefi wrote:Many many MANY years ago, they had the best computer section with tons of speccy games...

Too right, 'Sefi! My local Smiths stocked a number of machines and had loads of software. As an aside, Boots were even better as it had five or six systems on show for use and long display shelves full of cassettes. Both stores were excellent for gaming!

Yeah our local one had an awesome games and stuff section. Was a sort of side room too so it was like you were going into a separate shop.
Always had a couple days setup to play. Such a massive fall for them.

Have to agree, I got Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins with my WHS vouchers. My uncle used to send them to me - pretty generous amounts, £10, £20 etc. Probably didn't know I was spending them on games :lol:

good times. I mean free full price games, guilt free! Wicked (as we would say).

At some point, I made the worst swapping decision of all time - said game for Terminator 1 or 2 on GB, I think it had a paper label written in biro superglued on (wtf). To be fair to the guy, I cornered him in the toilets politely (why I have no idea, maybe I felt self not surrounded by loads of people) and insisted on a trade back after I realised my horrible mistake. He agreed and swapped back. What a guy. This is how I learnt the Art of the Deal.

Green Gecko wrote:At some point, I made the worst swapping decision of all time - said game for Terminator 1 or 2 on GB, I think it had a paper label written in biro superglued on (wtf). To be fair to the guy, I cornered him in the toilets politely (why I have no idea, maybe I felt self not surrounded by loads of people) and insisted on a trade back after I realised my horrible mistake. He agreed and swapped back. What a guy. This is how I learnt the Art of the Extortion

I have left out one or two less savoury details of this transaction following legal advice.

Bleachyleachy wrote:I wouldn't say I have any particularly strong feelings about them, but then I tried to remember the last time I shopped at one and realised I couldn't even remember a thing. I'm not sure what purpose WHS serves these days, stationary? Can get that anywhere. Books can be bought at nice bookshops. Snacks are availabale anywhere. So what is their market advantage?

Isn't that a bit like asking why people go to a supermarket when they can get meat from a butcher?

It's convenient to have one shop sell a variety of things.

Fade wrote:
Bleachyleachy wrote:I wouldn't say I have any particularly strong feelings about them, but then I tried to remember the last time I shopped at one and realised I couldn't even remember a thing. I'm not sure what purpose WHS serves these days, stationary? Can get that anywhere. Books can be bought at nice bookshops. Snacks are availabale anywhere. So what is their market advantage?

Isn't that a bit like asking why people go to a supermarket when they can get meat from a butcher?

It's convenient to have one shop sell a variety of things.

But supermarkets sell stuff cheaper and you generally only need one thing that WH Smith sells at once.

Pretty much that. I can think of times when I've needed art supplies, I can think I've times when I've needed a sandwich - but rarely have I needed both simultaneously

WH Smith's voted Britain's Worst Retailer

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