Goodbye to our local WH Smiths

 

My local branch of what used to be WH Smith is shortly closing after being made to wait months to hear it is on the list of closures drawn pup by Modella, the company who `rescued` the firm. Modella’s past record is of making such deals then downsizing the estate before ultimately winding up the physical business leaving either an online presence only or nothing but empty units. There is no reason to believe the same will not happen to the business latterly known as TG Jones. Yet for each shop closure there is a story, a history beyond the unfortunate fate of those working there and whatever has led down this final path. And this shop is almost the last one left of those I remember from decades ago. Its impending closure will be a sad day because I have so many memories of the place.

 

The shop has always felt protected somehow. It survived multiple re-structures and changes despite being one of the smaller branches and never having a Post Office included. It’s not big enough for book signings (when the company undertook them). For a time, it was a magnet for bike thieves due to people leaving their cycles outside leaning against the window. Four years ago a car crashed into the shop but this wasn’t a deliberate ram raid for supplies of feint lined A4 pads rather a collision. 

Allerton Road is an old shopping street whose businesses may even have contributed to the list of places mentioned in the Beatles song `Penny Lane` which is less than five minutes’ walk from the shop. Instead of modern units much of it looks like converted houses with upper floors that resemble apartments. Over time shops have come and gone all the time, yet this particular one has been there seemingly forever. Though it has changed livery, size and latterly even name it has always stood on this short block. 

 This unit has a mock Tudor frontage with black struts over a white painted wall though it hasn’t been there quite that long.  It used to be two separate units with WH Smith crammed into the larger but still poky right hand side. The official opening date of the shop seems not to be on public record; Google tells me it was in early 1970s but my parents used it in the Sixties so perhaps this is a reference to the time when the store was extended in the early Seventies.

It took over the corner shop next door (which had probably been a shoe shop as we had a lot of them!) as an extension for their record department.  We tend to think of stationers as quieter places but at that time the sounds of the latest albums would waft across the magazines and stationery. I remember hearing many new albums in there back then. I must have bought hundreds of books, magazines and records there over the years because back in the day people didn’t automatically go into town to shop. Early morning would see large piles of newspaper delivered for sale in the days when most people bought a newspaper on the way to work. It sold every type of stationery you might imagine from pads of various sizes, a large range of pens (even ink pens at one stage!), folders of differing types and sizes. Even things like set squares! I can’t even remember what they are for!

Our shop also had an upper floor accessed via a steep, creaky staircase, This was a frequent destination for me to check on the latest Target Doctor Who novels or new toys that were also kept up there. A couple of decades later, they swapped the books and the records around, so the latter were upstairs which allowed the staff to play a more diverse selection of music. It almost became like an independent record shop with staff who knew their music well, some of them even had bands. Yes, I remember Amphoteric!

I suppose it’s not too much of a surprise to find the ship closing. Lately there have been instances where I’ve been the only customer and even at peak times, the place is hardly bustling. Looking around at how few customers frequent the place now its hard to imagine just how packed it used to become especially on a Saturday afternoon. Sometimes it was difficult to get into the shop and you had to queue to check out the magazines or push your way to the front to find a record. The windows would be covered in condensation and sometimes the air conditioning would fail and the place would become rather musty! Everyone seemed to call in to Smiths at some point.  The shop did modernise a little but these old buildings are difficult to change though everyone was impressed when they installed swishy automatic doors about twenty-five years ago! One time they changed the logo to read WHS and it just looked like an NHS sign!

 Unlike other shops that have diversified over the years- Woolworths especially would randomly introduce then withdraw various product lines- Smiths has been remarkably consistent in what it sells. Newspapers, magazines, books, cards, sweets, stationery, toys and until the 2000s physical media. I suppose in decades past this seemed like a solid, dependable offering only one by one each of these areas has fallen into decline or else is available more cheaply elsewhere or online. I’ve often wondered why Smiths never tried harder to diversify. They could have moved into homeware or expanded their book selection to properly compete with Waterstones but they seemed to be unwilling or unable to pivot, still relying on the same products and inevitably the same (ageing) customers.  What changes they did make involved taking on franchises like the Post Office or Toys R Us- who were themselves in decline.

When the high street side of the business was bought last year by Modella Capital and the name changed to TG Jones – which nobody ever calls it- the writing was on the wall. Local branches like ours really felt like the hub of the community alongside post offices and pubs but I guess that world is gone now. It occurred to me that I must have visited this branch more than almost any other shop. I imagine once its closed the unit will become either another estate agent or perhaps a charity shop, maybe a restaurant. They could utilise the history though and call it Smith and Chips because like a lot of people round here I’ll always remember that shop as Smiths.