WH Smith aims to have 500 shops in North America by 2028

WH Smith is targeting 500 shops in North America by 2028 after its booming travel division fuelled a 16 per cent jump in annual profits.
The retail chain said it was focusing on growth in travel shops in the region, with 60 new stores in the pipeline and the group bidding to take on another 15 shops in US airports.
Carl Cowling, chief executive of WH Smith, said North America, the world’s largest travel market, “remains our most exciting opportunity for growth and our plan is to get to 20 per cent share of the US travel retail market over the next four years. We’ll have 500 shops in America.”
WH Smith currently has 341travel shops in North America and a market share of about 14 per cent.
The company is also continuing to expand its UK travel chain. Across Britain, the retailer opened 14 shops in the past year and shut eight as it continued to tilt its portfolio towards travel hubs and away from its traditional high street presence. It aims to open three to eight on a net basis over the year ahead.
The group proposed a final dividend of 22.6p, making a total of 33.6p for the year, up from 28.9p a year ago, after a boost in annual profits.
It reported underlying pre-tax profits of £166 million for the year to August 31, up from £143 million the previous year.
Trading profits rose by 15 per cent to £189 million at its shops based in railway stations, airports and hospitals worldwide, with these stores in the UK reporting earnings jumping by 20 per cent.
Earnings remained flat at £32 million in its traditional high street business, despite a 2 per cent drop in like-for-like sales thanks to cost-saving efforts.
WH Smith’s UK high street division continued to shrink as it closed 14 sites, leaving it with 500. It said it had 470 store leases due for renewal over the next three years, including more than 100 where it was in active negotiations with the landlord.
“As we grow travel, the high street division will become a smaller part of the overall group,” it said.
The high street business, which continues to shed sales as it battles to keep up with cheaper, online retailers selling small-value items, now accounts for 15 per cent of annual group trading profit.
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The company was established in 1792 and its first store, a newsagent, was opened by Henry Walton Smith and his wife, Anna, on Little Grosvenor Street in Mayfair, central London. In 1848 the company opened the first ever travel retail store at Euston station.
The group now operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery.
Travel is now the largest division in WH Smith, which operates 590 stores in Britain in airports, hospitals and railway stations. With passenger numbers increasing, the business is focused on becoming a one-stop shop for travel essentials.
Many UK retailers, including Tesco, have tried but failed to expand their operations in the United States.
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Cowling said WH Smith’s “secret formula” was to offer a “localised” proposition with bespoke shop fronts for different landlords.
“Even though we’re a British brand, to many of the American airports that we deal with it feels like to them like they’re dealing with a localised brand, because we’re really listening to them in terms of what they want.”
Analysts at RBC Capital said WH Smith’s “forensic approach to retailing should mean it is well placed to expand successfully in the global travel essential retail segment, although its ‘rest of world’ business is somewhat unproven in terms of profitability”.
WH Smith shares closed down 41p, or 3.2 per cent, at £12.60.