Source: Found hereBritish shoppers have taken to social media to voice their bewilderment after a beloved high street staple announced it will be changing its name after more than two centuries of trading.
WHSmith, a fixture on the UK high street since being established by Henry Walton Smith and his wife, Anna, in 1792 is set for a rebrand as TGJones following a £76 million acquisition by Modella Capital, the owner of Hobbycraft, as revealed on Friday (March 28).
The retailer, which currently boasts around 480 branches across the country and employs some 5,000 staff members, will undergo this significant transformation, although its airport and railway station outlets are to remain unchanged.
The announcement has prompted a wave of nostalgia among customers, with one disheartened shopper confessing on X : ⁘I am absolutely gutted about WHSmith. It was the place I shopped as a kid. My first paid job. My first management job.
Meanwhile, a fifth criticised the new branding strategy, writing: ⁘Utter madness to use a fake and made up name - TGJones. How much did a marketing company charge for this insane advice? The name 'TGJones' was selected by Modella Capital to evoke a familiar, family-oriented feel maintaining the sense of a family business. WHSmith. Really.⁘
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