POV - WHSmith, from must shop to has been
- Martin Eggleston
- Apr 9
- 4 min read
December 2023
I came across an article showing images of the new WHS branding. I was initially under the impression that this was a system of management to ensure legal processes were followed in hospitals or doctors' surgeries. Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) branding was a relatively new trend appearing throughout the world of safety management. So, this must have something to do with our national health service (NHS).
However no. Sadly, that is not what I was seeing.
What I was witnessing was the wilful (and woeful as it turned out) rebranding test and subsequent decimation of an iconic British high street institution. At 233 years old, WHSmith is the oldest retail chain in the World. WHSmith is a name synonymous with what it used to be. So with the benefit of all that amazing history, just what would go through the heads of marketeers to think that this was the answer? I am trying to put myself in the position of the person walking into the office of Carl Cowling to present this concept. I wonder what they had to say to convince the CEO that this was a brilliant idea.
I can only imagine the pitch; Hi Carl, we have been thinking, the whole history thing behind our story - it's a bit shit - Gen Z don't get it. So we are getting rid of the established 1792 thing. Oh, and the name Smith is far too generic. If we are to be cutting edge, we need to be punchy - that massively successful toyshop has already called themselves Smyths and commandeered the high street call - so yeah, we are just going to drop that too. We should go with the WHS bit... The bit we always shortened ourselves to at the doors of our stores.... That's what we should do. But let's change the font to something completely generic, that will show how diverse and inclusive we are. We will not be trapped by the success of the past and cornered by the trust in our history.
All I can think is that somebody in an agency somewhere had looked at the rebranding of another great British retail institution into M&S from Marks and Spencer, and thought "let us have some of that". This came after M&S posted higher than expected profits and announced its first dividend since 2019. The retailer, a mere 140-year-old, posted a profit before tax and adjusted items that gave a proper beating to expectations amid a revival in its food and clothing divisions.
In my opinion, the WHSmith attempt at rebranding to WHS was at best lazy and at worst inept.
Now, when I joined WHSmith in 1988, the name WHSmith had graced our high street for nearly 200 years. I was a fresh-faced 19-year-old Christmas temp, the Deputy Manager (yes, they had those then) showed me around the Sheffield Fargate store. We were approached by a customer who asked where the best stationer in town was.... 'You're in it' was Martin's reply. Do you know what, at the time he was right, WHSmith was the best example of a multi-specialist retailer there was. The WHSmith name was synonymous with quality - the best in Books, Music, Video, Stationery, Cards, and News. The best in service. Investors loved them, a solid reliable performer on the market - a safe bet.
Fast Forward: it's now July 2024
The news is that all is not well at WHSmith, and its High Street stores are struggling to cope with life in the twenty-first century. Last month, WHSmith reported another year-on-year dip in sales at its large stores. This contrasts with an eight per cent rise in revenue at its travel stores, those situated in airports and railway stations across the world. How long will it be before WHSmith calls time on its High Street operation? Sales of newspapers, magazines, books, and stationery have been eroded by the internet, resulting in a watered-down offer. Instead, we’re left with too many phone chargers and fridges full of chilled drinks. The result is a store lacking atmosphere and too few staff to make the shops look as nice as they used to.
and finally 6 Months later
'WHSmith is to sell its high street outlets'
It was Kate Swann in the Noughties who 'revived' WHS with the single strategy of cost-cutting. She left the business in 2013 with profits up 10% from the previous year at £102m. The shareholders and directors coined it.
Cost-cutting is basically managed decline, unless you have a reinvigoration strategy. In 2013, Swann left with her strategy ongoing and a bag full of cash: £13m in shares, salary and bonus package - more than the 10% profit uplift for the whole of the previous year.
By then, she had turned the High Street shops into awful pick and mix arcades, the stock a hotchpotch of any old stuff they could squeeze a dime out of. The book offering was just a mess, about as curated as a dog food wholesaler. Soft drinks, chocolate, magazines, all yelling confusing discounts from confusing stickers.
Subsequent management seems to have done nothing positive to give WHS High Street a distinctive direction and personality. Customers need a reason more than price to patronise a shop. Go read Paco Underhill's book Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping.
WHS Travel, on the other hand, is profitable. Not by doing anything particularly different from their offering in the High Street. It's just that they hold the leases on shops in places where the audience is captured and bored and, in the mood to buy stuff like phone chargers and books and chocolate and magazines at premium prices because there is nowhere else, and they are about to get on a plane or train. High margin is at home here. I know they are expanding airside around the world, but it's a business that could get swept away at any moment, as it's the site holders who own all the cards.
And so, at last, High Street is up for sale. But what exactly are they selling? They own few if any freeholds, and their brand is worthless.
What a depressing way to run a business.
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