Some of the first WH Smith stores to be rebranded as TG Jones outlets have opened their doors to shoppers again.
The 233-year-old retailer sold its 480 high street stores to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital for just £76 million earlier this year.
Now stores in Hastings and Southwick, both in Sussex, and Derby city centre have reopened as TG Jones after a short closure.
Industry experts initially predicted around half of the stores would be closed permanently.
However only 20 permanent closures have been announced for this year.
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It’s understood the rest will be rebranded over the coming weeks.
‘Customers can expect to find the same great range of products, deals and services, and a warm welcome from our friendly team,’ a TG Jones spokesperson said.
Mike Poole, store leader at Derby’s new TG Jones, told Derbyshire Live: ‘Seeing the new storefront being installed and putting on our TGJones uniforms for the first time has been a great moment.
‘There’s a real sense of pride among the whole team. We’re excited for what’s ahead, and ready to grow with the new brand and offer our customers an even better experience as TGJones.’
In a previously reported letter to staff, Modella said Jones is ‘a very well-known surname in the UK, Jones feels like a worthy successor to Smith and carries the same sense of family, appropriate for a store visited by everyone and there for everyone’.
The WH Smith brand will continue to exist but will only be used for its existing 1,300 travel shops in railway stations, airports and hospitals.
Its website will no longer offer online sales, instead providing only information.
It’s the latest in a string of high-profile brands to disappear from high streets, including Debenhams, Topshop and Woolworths.
WH Smith bosses previously said the business is becoming ‘exclusively focused on travel’ and has enjoyed ‘rapid international growth’.
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