Here’s where it gets funny. WHSmith isn’t even a bookshop anymore. It’s a travel retailer. Seriously.
Think of it as the magical portal you find at airports, hospitals, and motorway services. You go in for a newspaper, and you leave with a sandwich, a neck pillow, and a tiny bottle of shampoo.
In the US, they didn't bother with the name change. They just went full-on “InMotion” or “Marshall Retail Group.” It’s like WHSmith wearing a disguise so you don’t recognize it while you buy a laptop charger.
The “WH” Was Weird Anyway
Let’s be honest: WHSmith sounded like a robot stutter. What did the W and the H even stand for? Henry Walton Smith and his dad William Henry Smith.
Yes, the initials are a family fist bump from the 1800s. Imagine naming your store after your dad’s first two names and your own. It’s chaotic. It’s adorable. And it had to go.
