Another High Street Rebrand

james2001
Posts: 718
Joined: Sat 04 Jun, 2005 23.10

Pete wrote: Wed 05 Jul, 2017 23.26 WHSmith travel also have a trick of opening coffee shops that also have a fridge of sandwiches and chocolates but are not branded as WHS. For example Dundee station used to have a comical WHSmith "branch" (literally a market stall) upstairs and a Pumpkin cafe downstairs. When the old station was demolished and the new temporary entrance brought into use, WHS disappeared and Pumpkin was replaced by a Coffee House counter.
When I was at Dundee last year there was still a "WHSmith Express" in the waiting room on the platform, which was just as market stall like as the one that used to be in the old building.
User avatar
dosxuk
Posts: 673
Joined: Thu 07 Feb, 2008 21.37
Location: Sheffield

You can't get rid of WHS, It's always the first place I think of when wanting a wooden duck and a children's wetsuit from the same shop.

I might spend too much time in motorway services...
User avatar
Pete
Posts: 7589
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 13.36
Location: Dundee

james2001 wrote: Thu 06 Jul, 2017 10.54
Pete wrote: Wed 05 Jul, 2017 23.26 WHSmith travel also have a trick of opening coffee shops that also have a fridge of sandwiches and chocolates but are not branded as WHS. For example Dundee station used to have a comical WHSmith "branch" (literally a market stall) upstairs and a Pumpkin cafe downstairs. When the old station was demolished and the new temporary entrance brought into use, WHS disappeared and Pumpkin was replaced by a Coffee House counter.
When I was at Dundee last year there was still a "WHSmith Express" in the waiting room on the platform, which was just as market stall like as the one that used to be in the old building.
To be fair given the current state of the station it could still exist and I just didn't notice it. Perhaps behind where the ticket barriers used to be at the bottom of the escalators. I didn't actually turn around. Have got a train on Monday. Shall check.
"He has to be larger than bacon"
Andrew
Posts: 330
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 18.18

Aren't "WHSmith Express" and "WHSmith Local" not actually real WHSmiths, but just a franchised fascia to ride on the back of the brand recognition? The

Regarding Post Offices, there seems to be no consideration of how big the store was in the first place, some stores have moved to smaller branches and then later gained a Post Office meaning the WHSmith part is about the size of a travel branch with about 2 or 3 racks of magazines, 2 racks of cards etc.

Even ignoring the high prices, some decisions are unexplainable, the strange non-offers stuck on everything, the way they don't discount stock (still selling Creme Eggs at 2 for £1.20 months after easter) and the main one, the fact the service station buyer seems to be on drugs.
james2001
Posts: 718
Joined: Sat 04 Jun, 2005 23.10

Pete wrote: Thu 06 Jul, 2017 20.06 To be fair given the current state of the station it could still exist and I just didn't notice it. Perhaps behind where the ticket barriers used to be at the bottom of the escalators. I didn't actually turn around. Have got a train on Monday. Shall check.
Yes, that's exactly where it was!
Martin Phillp
Posts: 1469
Joined: Wed 11 May, 2011 01.28

Andrew wrote: Thu 06 Jul, 2017 21.25 Aren't "WHSmith Express" and "WHSmith Local" not actually real WHSmiths, but just a franchised fascia to ride on the back of the brand recognition?
A little bit more than that. They get uniforms, EPOS, POS, branded content etc. Think more like a Budgens.

https://local.whsmith.co.uk/
TVF's London Lite.
JAS84
Posts: 585
Joined: Fri 12 Aug, 2011 10.23
Location: Hull, UK

I agree about WHSmith prices. For example, I only buy chocolate from there when it's reduced to half price due to being short dated. I usually only go in there for newspapers and magazines - things that cost the same everywhere. WHS has a large magazine range, and it's their USP in my opinion. There's more than a few titles I don't see anywhere else.
Philip
Posts: 1133
Joined: Fri 22 Feb, 2008 21.23
Location: Merseyside
Contact:

Whilst in Tesco today I noticed Carling has new packaging:

Image

Apparently it was announced in February. I'm not a drinker so I must have missed it, but it appears nobody on here's mentioned it either.

More: https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/30- ... ack-label/
Image
Alexia
Posts: 2999
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

Yeah we got the new cans in work a little while back. Meh.
User avatar
AJ
Posts: 94
Joined: Mon 16 Feb, 2004 15.25
Location: London

WHSmith in Reading has had a nice refit. No more grubby carpet - instead it's got a laminate floor, huge Paperchase style stationery section and a "WHSmith Tech Zone" which looks like something out of the early 2000s. Progress though.

I'll get some photos when I next nip in to town.
User avatar
martindtanderson
Posts: 527
Joined: Tue 23 Dec, 2003 04.03
Location: London, UK
Contact:

SAXA of all things is getting a brand refresh...

Image

http://www.underconsideration.com/brand ... t_food.php
Image
Post Reply