Sadly, "WHSmiths" is no longer the loved and respected core brand it once way, and "TGJones" as a name throws away what little (High) street cred remained.
Times change, and so have their markets. In my youth, I commuted to school in 4EPB slammers - 6 seats aside looking at a wall of broad sheet and tabloid papers opposite me as work commuters caught up on the morning's news on their way to work in The City or Whitehall. These days, they are all looking at little screens, brief cases gone replaced by packs, and a bowler hat would be seen as fancy dress.
High Street WHSmiths were bookshops and oft held wonderful finds ... they have become much more convenience stores as TGJones and been looking for a role. In stations, oh dear, they have become quick stops for last minute and travelling needs at prices distinctly in excess of what you pay away from the station.
I will be in Swindon for an hour this afternoon; I doubt I'll be using the WHSmiths as I wait for my specific advance train. I may buy a coffee on the onward train if the trolley appears before Didcot. Perhaps I am turning into a grumpy old man, but I look back wistfully at customer service days in which a snack and drink could be bought at the station only just above High Street prices, and where I could get on the train, stop at the buffet counter to grab a coffee before finding a seat ... some things have not improved in the passenger experience.
Like Woolworths and BHS, thought the same format would work forever, and failed to move with the times. RIP.
