Plans have been submitted to Westmorland and Furness Council that will see WHSmiths name vanish from Penrith and replaced with TG Jones in the next few months.
One of the familiar names in British retailing is disappearing from high streets across the UK after 233 years following the sale of the WH Smith high street store network to a private equity investor.
All 480 WH Smith high street stores are being sold to investment company Modella Capital for just £76 million. Modella Capital, also own the arts and crafts retailer Hobbycraft.
The WH Smith name was not part of the sale leading to the rebrand as TG Jones for the 480 high street stores. The WH Smith name will continue to be used for the brands stores, in airports, hospitals and train stations, where unaffected by the sale for the high street stores.
It’s not known if the TGJones name is based on a real person, but Modella said the name was chosen to give the same “family” feel as the venerable WH Smith brand that was founded in London in 1792 by news vendor Henry Walton Smith and his wife.
“TGJones feels like a worthy successor to the WH Smith brand,” a spokesperson said. “Jones carries the same sense of family and reflects these stores being at the heart of everyone’s high street.”
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