WH Smith gears towards vanishing from UK high street with store closing today

A major name has disappeared from yet another town as closed the doors of one of its long-standing branches, leaving locals questioning what's left. The store inside Frenchgate shopping centre shut for good today (Saturday), with calling the closure "a disgrace" and warning that "there's hardly anything open" left in the .

The closure also included the located inside the shop, which now leaves a further gap in local services. One upset customer said: "The town might as well shut down, hardly anywhere open - so sad." Another told : "There will be no point in visiting the Frenchgate soon," while others said the closure had "left a big hole."

WH Smith, which has been part of Britain's high streets for over 230 years, recently agreed to sell its high street business in a £76 million deal.

Around 500 shops are being handed over to retail investment firm Modella Capital and are set to be rebranded under the new name TG Jones.

The company's focus is now shifting entirely to its travel business, which includes over 1,200 stores in airports, hospitals, railway stations, and motorway service areas in 32 countries.

That side of the business now brings in 85% of WH Smith's profits.

Chief executive Carl Cowling said: "Given our rapid international growth, now is the right time for a new owner to take the High Street business forward and for the WH Smith leadership team to focus exclusively on our Travel business".

A WH Smith statement added: "All stores, colleagues, assets and liabilities of the High Street business will move under Modella Capital's ownership as part of the Transaction.

"Under this new ownership, the business will be led by Sean Toal, currently CEO of the High Street business. The High Street business will operate for a short transitional period under the WHSmith brand whilst the business rebrands as TGJones."

The Doncaster store is the latest in a series of closures, with other branches already shut in places like Halstead, Woolwich, and Ayr. A store in Bedford is also set to close on July 5.

The new owner Modella said the stores will continue offering the same products and services during a short transition period, before the rebrand to TG Jones is complete.

A spokesperson said TG Jones "feels like a worthy successor" and will aim to offer familiar items.

They added: "Jones carries the same sense of family and reflects these stores being at the heart of everyone's high street.

"There will be a handover period in the immediate term, and it is very much business as usual whilst we work closely with the management team to define and execute a strategy to introduce new ranges and other offerings in the future."