After a difficult year for its book business, W.H. Smith, the U.K. travel, stationery and book retailer with most shops in downtown areas, train stations and airports, plans to close six of its 607 downtown shops and end "non-core initiatives including its W.H. Smith Local convenience outlets, launched in 2013, and its 20-strong Cardmarket chain, once the leases expire," the Bookseller reported.
Overall sales were up 2%, to £1.262 billion (about $1.651 billion), and pretax profit fell 4%, to £134 million (about $175 million). But main street sales fell 3%, and profits also fell 3%, to £60 million (about $78.5 million).
Book sales during the year dropped 6% because of what W.H. Smith called a "challenging" holiday season marked by "the lack of a strong new publishing trend" to make up for the strong sales the previous two holiday seasons of color therapy titles--or therapy coloring books--and spoof humor books. The second half of the year was helped, however, by David Walliams's World's Worst Children 3 and Dan Brown's Origins.
By contrast, sales in travel, which accounts for more than half of the company's sales and two-thirds of its profits, rose 8%.
A spokesperson commented: "Over the year, W.H. Smith will be opening more stores than it is closing. Across the business we will continue to create jobs, employing more people next year than this year. We are not announcing the six stores we have earmarked for closure in today's statement as they will close at different times as and when their leases expire--the earliest of these will be in 2021."