WH Smith Shop Closures Full List 2025: WH Smith PLC, headquartered in Swindon, England, operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital, and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products, and confectionery.
In 1792, London news dealer Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna founded the enterprise. The Smith family owned it for many years, and in the 1970s, it expanded into new markets. After a 2004 private equity buyout failed, the firm focused on retail. It invented the ISBN book identification.
WH Smith Shop Closures Full List 2025
WH Smith announced that 17 of its stores across the UK will close before May 2025. Here is the complete list of stores closing soon.
January 2025
- Bournemouth, Dorset
- Luton, Bedfordshire
February 2025
- Basingstoke, Hampshire
- Bournemouth (Winton), Dorset
- Rhyl, Denbighshire
- Bolton, Greater Manchester
March 2025
- Accrington, Lancashire
April 2025
- Halstead, Essex
- Halesowen, West Midlands
- Diss, Norfolk
- Newport, South Wales
- Haverhill, Suffolk
May 2025
- Stockton, County Durham
- Oldham, Greater Manchester
TBC 2025
- Orpington, South London
Read Also:Â NatWest Closing Branches List 2025
WH Smith Shop
Here’s a brief overview of WH Smith in table format:
| Fact Number | Fact |
|---|---|
| 1 | Founded in 1792 by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in London. |
| 2 | Headquarters is located in Swindon, England. |
| 3 | Operates over 1,700 stores in more than 30 countries. |
| 4 | Opened its first travel retail store at London’s Euston station in 1848. |
| 5 | Listed on the London Stock Exchange and part of the FTSE 250 Index. |
| 6 | Created the Standard Book Numbering (SBN) system in 1966. |
| 7 | Once owned the American record chain The Wall. |
| 8 | Acquired the InMotion brand in 2018, the largest airport-based electronics retailer in the USA. |
| 9 | Operates shops in hospitals following its acquisition of United News in 2008. |
| 10 | Retains a shop on Rue de Rivoli in Paris, France. |
| 11 | Had shops in the United States from 1985 until 2003. |
| 12 | Opened four branches in Helsinki Airport, Finland, in late 2016 and early 2017. |
| 13 | Responsible for the creation of the ISBN book identifier. |
| 14 | Celebrated its 225th anniversary in 2017. |
| 15 | Acquired the ModelZone brand in 2013. |
| 16 | Launched the low-priced brand Cardmarket in 2014. |
| 17 | Founded one of the UK’s earliest cable television channels, Lifestyle. |
| 18 | Opened two shops in Shannon Airport, Ireland, in 2009. |
| 19 | Planning 30 kiosk shops in China. |
| 20 | Donated thousands of products to key workers and good causes during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
