The most lowkey
takeover in recent retail history
It may have taken a
while for people to notice but a significant though unobtrusive change has been
occurring throughout high streets in the UK. A familiar store remains open but
look up and its name has changed. WH Smith is now TG Jones. You’d be forgiven
for not noticing. The blue and white colour scheme of the sign remains the
same, the stores untouched by any makeover. Yet those signs have been quietly
changed- I don’t know when, I’ve yet to see it actually happening – in recent
weeks. You’ll still find WH Smiths in airports and railway stations because the
brand has been split in two, the high street shops sold off. It’s the end of an
era though in other ways a return to how things started.