Smith in conversation to sell high street store

British retailer WH Smith is interacting to sell his high street store, saying the trade.

In a statement on Saturday, the firm said that it was “discovering the group’s profitable and cash liberal parts of the group, including a potential sales,”.

It was said that in the last decade, business had become a “a concentrated global trip retailer” in 32 countries with more than 1,200 stores.

The first of its more than 500 stores was working as a news vendor, more than 230 years ago, in 1792. It has since developed in a major high road and travel retailer.

WH Smith’s travel retail trade side, which operates from airports, train stations and hospitals, now exceeds 85% of its profit. High street business creates rest.

The retailer said that “there was no certainty that any agreement would be reached” but it was added, it would provide updates on possible sales.

The price of WH Smith was around £ 1.5bn on Friday. This figure represents the value of the entire group.

In 2019, one? The best retailer of the year survey found that Smith is the lowest location, the shopkeepers described the stationery expert as “tight and dirty”.

Catherine Shuttleworth, a consumer retail analyst in Savi Marketing, said that the behavior of purchasing in the UK “changed fundamentally”, reduced the reasons for visiting a WH Smith.

“Most of us do not read our news online in magazines and newspapers, we download books and send birthday cards through online operators,” she said.

Attention to business like WH Smith was now in shops in high footfall areas such as airports, stations and hospitals, “he said.

Nicholas of Retail Economics Research Consultancy found that potential buyers may see opportunities for “reorganization and high road appearance of remagin WH Smith”. However, he warned that modern high street was a “challenging climate” in which it was to be operated.

Revenue from WH Smith’s High Street Stores below £ 17 meters in 2024, compared to earlier, but last year its 14 stores remained the same after closing the business.

Speaking after WH Smith’s most recent financial results, the group’s chief executive Carl Cowling said: “Our UK High Street Business has provided its own strategy of management of space to maximize returns and maintain a flexible cost structure Continued.

“As part of this space management, we opened 30 toys R US shop-in-shop in the second half of the financial year, and agreed to another 37 to open Christmas before 2024.”

Toys R Gone Bust in R US 2018 and hit a deal To host with Smith.

In 2023, Mr. Cowling told the BBC that the retailer UK High Street Store would not open any more. Instead, it will focus on UK airports and train stations, as well as open shops in the US and Europe.

Shri said that it was clear that WH Smith had “strategically pivoted” to “fast growing travel retail trade”. He said that leaving his high road business, he said, it would allow it to focus completely on its new direction.