It comes after WHSmith ruled out opening any more new UK high street stores, then in November 2024, the retailer confirmed it had closed 14 sites
WHSmith is set to close 17 stores over the next few months.
The first closures took place on January 18, with its Bournemouth and Luton high street stores shutting for good on this date. A third site will also close in January. WHSmith will shutter its branch in March, Cambridgeshire on January 25. Five more WHSmith stores will shut in February, followed by one in March, five in April and two in May, reports The Sun.
Another shop in Orpington, London, is also set to shut for good this year, but no closure date has been announced yet. It comes after WHSmith ruled out opening any more new UK high street stores in an update in June 2023. Then in November 2024, the retailer confirmed it had closed 14 sites, with the firm saying at the time that it expects to shut a similar number in the current financial year.
In a statement released in November, the company said it has around 470 store leases due for renewal over the next three years, including 100 where it is in active negotiations with the landlord. But it’s not all bad news. WHSmith wants to continue expanding its UK travel chain.
It opened 14 sites over the past financial year and shut eight, but it aims to open around three to eight on a net basis. WHSmith said last year: “As we grow travel, the high street division will become a smaller part of the overall group. We only renew a lease where we are confident of delivering economic value over the life of that lease.”
WHSmith has also rolled out Toys R Us concessions across its stores, including 37 that launched before Christmas. It also recently announced it is bringing back vinyl records for the first time in more than 30 years across 80 high street shops and launched a range of festive sandwiches to tap into growing demand for food across its stores.
Full list of WHSmith closures
- Bournemouth Old Christchurch Road, Dorset – January 18
- Luton, Bedfordshire – January 18
- March, Cambridgeshire – January 25
- Basingstoke, Hampshire – February 1
- Newtown, Powys – February 15
- Winton branch in Bournemouth, Dorset – February 15
- Rhyl, Denbighshire – February 15
- Bolton, Greater Manchester – February
- Accrington, Lancashire – March 15
- Halstead, Essex – April
- Halesowen, West Midlands – April
- Diss, Norfolk – April
- Newport, Isle of Wight – April
- Haverhill, Suffolk – April 26
- Stockton, County Durham – May
- Oldham, Greater Manchester – May
- Orpington, Greater London – no date given yet
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