We’re not sure who told WH Smith that it needed a rebrand, but best believe they’re probably regretting that advice right now. Trial rebrands for the newsagent chain have popped up across ten of its branches, including Preston, York and Canterbury. And people are downright baffled.
First of all, the rebranded sites now have signs that read ‘WHS’ rather than the full brand name. One social media user responded to the rebrand on X (née Twitter), saying: ‘What is so annoying is that it takes just as long to say WHS out loud as WH Smith and so everyone usually calls it Smith’s for short. Which is the bit they’ve taken out of the branding. Terrible decision.’
But that’s not the only thing about the rebrand that has irked shoppers. With its three letters in white bold font against a blue background, the design looks extremely similar to the NHS logo. ‘I thought it was a Covid vaccination centre,’ one social media user wrote in reference to the rebranded Smiths in Wokingham. ‘Could they have got it more wrong?’ another said.
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— Lewis Middleton (@lewmidds) December 22, 2023
The makeover comes after the chain announced in April that it would be opening 120 new stores, thanks to booming business at branches in train stations and airports leading to a soar in profits. However, it is trying to boost falling sales on the high street.
Experts have also been weighing in on the new logo reveal. Nick Bubb, a retailing analyst and consultant, told the Guardian: ‘There is some logic in having a different logo for the high street stores compared to the travel stores but the S in the WHS logo should be in a different type-face so it does not look like the NHS, so the rebrand has been poorly executed.’ Oh dear.
This is just a trial, so we don’t know just yet whether the controversial rebranding will be rolled out across all of WH Smith’s 1,100 locations. Based on all that feedback though, it’s not looking likely.
Want to know what else is going on on British high streets? We’ve got you. Most recently, coffee chain Harris + Hoole announced a string of closures, there are a bunch of New Look sites shutting up shop, Costa Coffee announced some major changes, and Boots is pulling the plug on several high street branches too.
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