WH SMITH will disappear off the high street forever after all 500 of its shops have been sold in a £76million deal.
The 232 year-old British business has agreed to sell the chain to Modella Capital, with the stores eventually rebranded as TGJones.
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It comes after WHSmith said it was looking at offloading 500 high street stores in January.
Around 5,000 people are employed across the high street shops.
Carl Cowling, chief of the high street brand described the move as a “pivotal moment”.
WH Smith has been slowly shifting away from its shops in town centres and shopping outlets at it turns its focus to its more lucrative travel brand.
He said: “We have a highly successful Travel business, operating in fast growing markets in 32 countries and we are constantly innovating to deliver strong returns and meet our customers’ and partners’ needs.
“Our Travel business currently accounts for around 75% of the Group’s revenue and 85% of its trading profit.”
The stationer said last January it wanted to open 15 new shops in airports, railway stations and hospitals before the end of 2024.
This formed part of wider plans to open 110 new branches worldwide.
It also said in November it will close up to 20 stores each year over the next three years, the vast majority of which are on the high street.
At the end of this January, WHSmith’s results for the 21 week period to January 25, 2025, revealed its travel stores were trading well, with revenue across North America stores up 3% like-for-like.
