WH Smith name to disappear from High Street after sale

WH Smith name to disappear from High Street after sale 44 minutes ago Share Save Lucy Hooker BBC Business reporter Share Save Getty Images The name WH Smith, a staple of UK town centres since the Victorian era, is set to disappear from the High Street after the firm agreed to sell its shops to Hobbycraft-owner Modella Capital. The new owner has said it will keep the Post Office outlets that operate in many branches, but will rebrand the High Street chain as TGJones. The WH Smith name is not being sold and will still be used at the airport, railway station and hospital outlets that are also not for sale. Modella Capital will take over 480 stores in retail parks, shopping centres and on High Streets including 5,000 staff. The new owner said it would be "business as usual" while it worked on making changes to the store chain, including adding new ranges, while keeping the Toys "R" Us concessions and the 195 Post Office counters. Modella would not comment on whether jobs would be cut following the takeover. However, retail analysts said they expected the private equity firm to look closely at the performance of the stores it has bought. Modella specialises in retail and consumer businesses. As well as buying Hobbycraft last year, it has invested in Crafters' Companion and The Original Factory Shop. It said it had chosen the TGJones name because it carried "the same sense of family" as WH Smith, which it described as an "iconic" retail business. Getty Images BBC broadcaster Richard Dimbleby at WH Smith in Victoria Station in 1956 WH Smith's first shop opened in 1792 in Little Grosvenor Street, London and the company became the country's principal newspaper distributor. It opened its first travel retail store in London's Euston station in 1848. It then expanded rapidly in the post war years and broadened the range of goods on sale. In the 1970s, it leant into the style of the era with a new brown and orange logo. From teenagers stocking up on flashcards, pencil cases and other back-to-school items to shoppers browsing for a birthday card or magazine, art supplies, photograph albums, or sweets, for decades WH Smith successfully appealed to a broad range of customers. As Britain ushered in the era of the personal computer, WH Smith continued to draw in new customers, keen on experiencing the very latest technology in the 1980s. Getty Images A teenager tries out the Acorn Electron Playmate at WH Smith in 1984 But in recent years it has been challenged by budget High Street shops and supermarkets as well as online retailers. Trading under its more recent blue and white logo, it developed a reputation for being run-down and shabby, culminating in a popular social media account WHS_Carpet, which mocked the poor state of its floor coverings. WH Smith group chief executive Carl Cowling said the £76m sale, was "a pivotal moment" for the company, which would now focus exclusively on the travel-related side of the business. "High Street is a good business; it is profitable and cash generative with an experienced and high-performing management team," he said. "However, given our rapid international growth, now is the right time for a new owner to take the High Street business forward." The travel division operates more than 1,200 stores in 32 countries. Getty Images WH Smith was once a destination for book signings: actress Raquel Welch flogs her fitness book 'Mourning'