WH Smith

Chain or not, this store is huge, boasting a large selection of items ranging from books, to games, magazines to soft drinks, cards to dvds, and cds to stationary. Prices are generally reasonable, and you’re sure to find something of interest whilst perusing inside. The service is certainly friendly, and I found the staff to be very professional when dealing with me, when I recently had to complain about being overcharged for an item on special offer.

I am not going to talk about their stationary, sweets, gift-​wrapping section, books, CDs, DVDs, or even their 2−4−1 offers on mineral water. No, not going to talk about that! Instead, I am going to talk about WH Smith’s fantastic range of magazines.
In many ways WH Smith is expensive and outdated. Sometimes you have to go there because they have dominated pretty much every mainline railway station in the country. However, what I don’t mind about Smith’s is their magazine range. The Brighton store is particularly well stocked.
I like to read five magazines: GQ, GQ Style, Another Man, Dazed & Confused and Little White Lies. GQ can be found in most supermarkets, but the others could be considered a bit niche (particularly LWL). The fact that at the beginning of the month I can go to one store and buy all of these magazines really does make my glossy reading habits easier.
They have a massive range in this store, with clearly labelled sections and special interest mags that’ll keep everyone from budding interior designers to amateur photographers and fishing fans happy. In truth, I don’t think there is a better place to go to buy magazines, especially since the shop doesn’t determine the prices.
WH Smith — 2.5÷5
WH Smith Magazine Section — 4.5÷5

There’s one reason I regularly visit this central branch of WH Smith and that’s for the massive selection of greeting cards on the ground floor. Kemp Town has lots of cool gift shops that sell hundreds of camp and kitsch greeting cards but WH Smith is much closer and cheaper. It also has a much bigger and more eclectic section.
There’s comedy cards for my dad and uncle.
There’s older cards with flowers, classic paintings and tasteful photos for my 80 and 81 year old neighbours.
There’s cool black and white cards for my mum and auntie.
There’s stylish and slick cards for my stylish and slick friends.
And there’s X-​rated cards with naked girls in martini glasses for my cheekier friends.

I’m not sure how Smith’s stays afloat really. There is no reason that it shouldn’t be a useful shop– they sell books, magazines and all stationery type items including photo albums, blank dvds, batteries. All that sort of useful stuff. Somehow though it all feels a little superfluous– I can get a better selection of books from a dedicated bookstore and I can get a better selection of stationery from somewhere like Clarke’s. It is a case of not really doing any one thing well. Sigh. And I used to love Smith’s when I was a kid because they had the biggest magazine selection– where has it gone?- and a great chocolate bar range– definitely diminshed. It needs a re-​branding. It can still serve though if you are nearby and desperately need batteries! The main reason I go in now is because the main post office is strangely at the back of the shop! I’m not falling for that trick and buying something.

Large branch of this chain of stationers set over two floors. Upstairs is largely dedicated to greetings cards and stationery and the lower floor largely dedicated to books. Does have a wide range of books available — but the size of the shop makes it a souless atmosphere to browse in. I’d probably only go in there if I knew exactly what I wanted and could go straight to it. Doesn’t have the same good offers on books as most of it’s competitors.