I have a soft spot for W.H.Smith & Son, they were my father’s first employers and he worked for them from 1938 through until 1953. Had he not he would not have moved from South Wales to Gloucester, would not have visited his boss, a man with the improbable name of Arthur Austritch, and would not have met the woman who became my mother. Their opening encounter was not entirely smooth as she told him in no uncertain terms to not sit on a patient’s bed. I think one could have described the then staff nurse West as feisty.
Dad continued to do business with WHS until he retired from his next employer 34 years later. I became familiar with their stores during business trips with him through the Welsh valleys whilst I was on school holidays. My first Saturday job was with John Menzies whose profile was very similar to WHS but and I always felt was marginally inferior and a “copy”.
I fell out with them when they wouldn’t stock Private Eye for a few years (although as a subscriber, it affected them less than me). Now I am peeved that they have decided to limit the travel books they stock to those published by Penguin. Remember that W.H.Smith are the only bookseller in many travel locations like railway stations and airport terminals. Without doubt it’s good business for Penguin who publish a mere 18% of all travel books sold last year by WHS; but it effectively removes the remaining 82% as a choice for potential purchasers.
It’s not just me, Michael Palin is pretty cross too.
Lonely Planet are potentially one of the publishers who will suffer, and they are surprisingly measured in their response.
So take a look at Waterstones or Amazon or BookBrain when you’re doing your planning and exercise choice.
The Incisal Edge 