Metropol

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.

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...

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.

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.

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!

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/

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.

Whilst in Tesco today I noticed Carling has new packaging:



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/

Yeah we got the new cans in work a little while back. Meh.

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.

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



http://www.underconsideration.com/brand ... t_food.php