With so much of the reading experience moving from print to digital over the last three decades, even the biggest bookstore and newspaper chains are unable to keep large numbers of brick-and-mortar locations profitable.
WH Smith, a major British legacy book and newspaper retailer that was founded by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in 1792 and operates hundreds of stores at airports and other travel hubs, narrowly avoided falling into bankruptcy when it sold the high street part of its business to British private equity firm Modella Capital in March 2025.
As part of the restructuring plan approved by a London court at the start of July 2026, the firm will close 150 of the 480 TG Jones stores operating at different locations across the United Kingdom (Modella Capital retained the WH Smith brand for stores operating at airports and railway stations while rebranding high street stores to TG Jones).
TG Jones bookstores start closing down in different parts of UK
Modella initially presented the £10 million purchase as a plan to turn the legacy bookseller into “the hub of the high street” (the term is used in the UK for a primary commercial road similar to “Main Street” in the U.S.). But it later admitted that the model of large bookstores operating in high-rent commercial areas was “almost completely broken” in 2026.
With the restructuring plan approved, the first closures in cities including Bath, Swindon, Uckfield, Redcar and Market Harborough have started closing down. Visitors to these TG Jones locations reported seeing “everything-must-go” signs in store windows in what is the start of liquidation sales.
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The wave of closures that will eventually see the closure of 150 locations will take place throughout the rest of 2026.
In a statement to British news outlets at the start of May, a TG Jones spokesperson said that the “decision has not been taken lightly” and that “the survival of this iconic 234-year-old business is our imperative.”
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These TG Jones bookstores are having closure and liquidation sales
“The restructuring plan is designed to protect the substantial core of the store estate and create a stronger, more sustainable business that can continue to serve customers for years to come,” the company said further.
The clearance sale at Swindon has begun at 30% off everything in the store and will likely go down further as the final closing date nears (the exact day the doors of the store will shutter has not yet been confirmed by TG Jones).
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In Swindon, the Post Office branch located within the TJ Jones store will also be closing by September as the entire block is slated to be sold off to a new owner.
While the company has not yet confirmed the extent of the job cuts and said that its aim is to “preserve as many jobs as possible”, at least 5,000 workers at the 150 stores slated for closures are estimated to be affected by the shutdowns.
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