WHSmith is traditionally where shoppers would go to grab the latest beach read, some new stationery, or a newspaper to flick through on the train.
But now it can also be where you head to buy your lunch or dinner on the go, as the retailer has just launched its very first café and own-brand food range.
Called Smith’s Family Kitchen, the café is located at the Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton, has 26 seats, and is selling takeaway and dine-in options.
It comes a few months after the business announced its food range, of the same name, which features 34 products and is available in more than 300 of WHSmith’s UK travel stores.
Items in the food range include sandwiches, salads, wraps, and baguettes with fillings such as falafel and hummus, Korean BBQ chicken with pickled slaw, and New York salt beef. There will also be dishes such as a Mexican naked burrito bowl with sweet potato and chipotle sauce.
Prices for the products will vary, covering an array of ‘different price points’, but everything will be included in the retailer’s £4.99 meal deal.
Travel store locations are commonly found in airports, train stations, motorway service areas, and hospitals across the country, and the retailer has almost 600 travel stores in total.
WHSmith is continuing to grow this arm of the business, which is helping to offset a decline in sales across high street stores and online over the last few years. It also has plans to open more hospital cafés soon.
Andrew Harrison, managing director, UK travel, WHSmith said: ‘We’re on a mission to offer time-pressed customers all their travel essentials under one roof with a fast and convenient shopping experience.
‘With millions of customers turning to WHSmith each year to fuel their journeys, we’re making our biggest investment in WHSmith’s food offer since we first started offering chilled food and drinks in our Travel stores more than 10 years ago, with the launch of a new and delicious food to go range.
‘Working with a team of chefs to tailor our range to ensure we’re using the best quality ingredients has been fantastic, and the team has done an excellent job with the look and feel of the new brand — it’s a really exciting time for the business.’
This change comes after it was revealed that WHSmith is helping to bring a little 90s magic back to the high street, by opening Toys R Us concessions in some of its stores.
The two brands have partnered to launch in more than 30 locations across the UK by the end of August 2024.
The books and stationery giant first announced it was teaming up with the iconic toy brand in 2022 and they trialled concessions in nine stores in York, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Cwmbran, Oxford, Poole, Reading and Solihull.
Customers visiting the Toys R Us concessions in the lucky WHSmith stores will be able to discover and play with dedicated sections by age, interest and category.
The concessions will feature interactive experiences, demonstration tables and iconic visual elements throughout.
Each Toys R Us in WHSmith will feature a key range of products and activities from kid’s favourites including Bluey, Hot Wheels Barbie, Fisher Price, Paw Patrol, Lego, Peppa Pig Marvel and more.
The locations of the 30 new concessions have not yet been confirmed.
Toys R Us first launched in 1985 as the world’s first ‘toy supermarket’.
But in 2017 the brand’s US parent company filed for bankruptcy, with the UK side going into administration the following year.
Despite months of rescue talks the iconic chain was forced to close all 100 of its stores, making thousands of people redundant.
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