Convenient, but far too expensive! (WH Smith)

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	WH Smith
Date:	01/08/09 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stock a wide range of items, convenient for magazines papers and travel books

Disadvantages: Books, dvds, cds, games and much of the stationary items are far too expensive

W.H. Smiths shops are effectively a newsagents, stationary shop, bookshop and cd/dvd/computer games shop all in one, but whilst they sell a very varied range of items they tend to be less than competitive when it comes to prices.

The newsagents section is good, with an excellent range of newspapers and magazines on offer, and most shops have a booth at the front from which cigarettes and confectionary items can be bought. The stationary items tend to be overpriced however, and lean towards the more upmarket end of the scale, offering a wide range of expensive parker pens and the like, but if its just cheap and cheerful school/office stationary you're after then youd be much better off going to Stationary Box or Staples, and whilst Smiths also sell art supplies, you can pick these up far cheaper at shops like The Works.

Books are similarly expensive, and though they do run 'buy two books and get the second half price' offers, their books tend to be at full price, and can be bought for a fraction of the price Smiths sell them at by ordering them online from large distributors such as Amazon. If you desperately need a good book for a train or plane journey then Smiths can be a lifesaver, as they are present in most train stations and airports, but unless you need the book immediately theyre not really worth bothering with. They do have both an in-store and online ordering system, but again, if you're going to have to wait for the book anyway then you'd likely be better off buying it from another cheaper distributor.

The exact same problem is true of the cd/dvd/computer games section of the shop- all the items tend to be overpriced and are nearly always available cheaper elsewhere, either in supermarkets like Asda and Tesco or online through distributors such as Amazon and Play. Whether you like to buy online or prefer physically picking up an item in a local shop, Smiths still remains inferior.

The shops tend to be well laid out and the staff are very courteous and helpful, but other than for picking up newspapers, magazines, chocolate bars and the odd last-minute travel book the store doesnt really seem worth bothering with to be honest.

Summary: Good as a newsagents, but most other items can be bought much more cheaply elsewhere