Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Another point here is that W.H. Smiths are not who one immediately thinks of when booksellers are mentioned. They are primarily stationers - most of their business is selling newpapers and magazines, writing pads, pens, sticky tape, etc. They sell books too, yes, but it's not their primary business.
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That surprises me
- I think the people I know who aren't avid readers would say 'W H Smith' if asked to name a highstreet bookshop.
The
Interim Results Statement for April 2009 seems to give books top billing in the 'Category Performance' section, and makes a big play about their expansion into the 'Travel' market:
"In Travel, improved merchandising and strong promotions, such as Deal of the Week, have helped support our books performance.We have made further progress with our specialist bookstore format, expanding our portfolio by opening 8 new units in the period, for example at Manchester and Stansted airports, bringing the total number of books only stores to 17."