AN iconic British shop name has been replaced with a new identity in Ross-on-Wye’s town centre.

Last week, the town’s WH Smith store in Broad Street became TG Jones after Herefordshire Council approved the new signage.

The store had been trading as TG Jones for the past couple of months after WH Smith’s 480 high street branches were sold to private equity firm Modella Capital for £76 million.

TG Jones states the new name does not reference to any individual, as it was chosen it for its family appeal and it is keeping the blue and white brand colours of WH Smith, as a sense of reassuring continuity. And consequently, shoppers will expect continuity in merchandising and service.

However, the 233-year-old brand WH Smith’s will be returning to its origins and operating out of railway stations, airports and ports. It will also be holding on to its network of shops in hospitals and motorway service stations.

In 1816 William Henry Smith (1792-1865) and his brother inherited a stationers and newspaper agency in the Strand, London.

But it was in 1848 WH Smith & Son won the contract to run bookstalls for the London and North-Western Railway.

And it wasn’t long before arrangements with other railway companies followed, and by 1902 Smith’s had 1,242 bookstalls, selling books, magazines and newspapers, and offering a lending library service.

But it wasn’t until the early 20th century that Smith’s began to trade from shops and became a private limited company in 1928.

WH Smith’s trial rebrand to ‘WHS’ in 2023 exposed just how far things had drifted for the company.

But it’s not going to be plain sailing for the new brand as it will have to work harder to earn relevance from the outset. Success will not come from a new name, as it will have to form a clear vision for the future.