WH Smiths at Railway Stations

merlodlliw · 14 Sep 2011

I really am enjoying this banter, here in Wrexham we have around ten various £ shops in the centre,some good some not so good.
It amused me when the 99P shop arrived(all Asian staff came with it)I only mention this due to no locals invited to work there,undercutting the £ shops by a penny.

I note most of the stock is seconds in £ shops, some of the ground coffee
is awful & a disgrace to lyons etc who sell it on. Batteries are usually 50% charged and should have been scrapped. But yes a good few bargains to be had.

Has for some one mentioning filling a bottle in the bathroom, in the UK its probably safer than some bottled waters where there must be over 90% profit margin
Anyone recalling Coca Cola filling its bottles from the tap, when it entered the market, the water was safe, but the lies were not.

RailUK Forums

142094 · 14 Sep 2011

merlodlliw said:
Anyone recalling Coca Cola filling its bottles from the tap, when it entered the market, the water was safe, but the lies were not.

Ah yes, Daisani I think it was called. They had a big press event with a diving board and pool in Newcastle. Didn't last long.

Interestingly in North America a lot of the water brand over there are from 'municipal sources' and filtered, and they are still around.

LouJ · 14 Sep 2011

Rather surpisingly Virgin Trains sells water at the ticket office for 50p whcih undercuts the £1+ for a smilar bottle at WH Smiths! Stations need more competition. Take Switzerland where there are often a number of shops all selling the same stuff and they are forced to keep prices down.

michael769 · 14 Sep 2011

142094 said:
Ah yes, Daisani I think it was called. They had a big press event with a diving board and pool in Newcastle. Didn't last long.

Yeah that was the one that was temporarily banned when they found that it was contaminated with (I think) benzene that exceeded legal limits. It damaged the brand so much that Coca Cola sensibly decided not to re-enter that market.

Butts · 14 Sep 2011

michael769 said:
Yeah that was the one that was temporarily banned when they found that it was contaminated with (I think) benzene that exceeded legal limits. It damaged the brand so much that Coca Cola sensibly decided not to re-enter that market.

Did they have to tip it all down the sink

I think it is still available in other parts of the world .

bb21 · 14 Sep 2011

Another example of passengers being completely ripped off is when I passed Frankfurt Airport earlier this year, I noticed that bottles of mineral water were selling for €2.60 for 500ml. Disgraceful!

jon0844 · 14 Sep 2011

Butts said:
I think it is still available in other parts of the world .

Given how Only Fools & Horses did an episode on the very same thing, and that's a show that has probably been sold all over the world, I'm amazed Coca Cola even tried this! Perhaps an executive somewhere saw the show and thought it was a documentary?

Now if anyone wants a bottle of Hatfield Spring, please let me know.

Flamingo · 14 Sep 2011

To be fair to Coca-Cola, it was not just hooked up to the tap. The water was filtered and condensed. It's just the raw material came from Thames Water, not from a spring situated in a field, and hand-filled by rural craft gnomes who learned it at their grandfathers knee.

Not saying it's right, just correcting some misconceptions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasani

Greenback · 14 Sep 2011

I alwasys preferred the Menzies outlets to WH Smith's, whether on stations or the High Street. They always seemed a couple of pence cheaper when I was a teenager!

Deerfold · 14 Sep 2011

WestCoast said:
Are you sure about that? Home Bargains, established almost 30 years ago, are owned by Liverpool-based holding company TJ Morris, which is a retail firm with other ventures in property and the Far East. 99p Stores are a chain based in Northants, established in 2001, and they set up a subsidiary called Family Bargains, which was probably intended to compete with HB.

Getting back on-topic, we are stuck with WHSmith at stations. Fortunately most larger stations have access to cheaper/better retail options.

I must go to some really cheap areas - I regularly pass a store in Home Bargains colours but called "Bargains for Home" (sic).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

michael769 said:
Yeah that was the one that was temporarily banned when they found that it was contaminated with (I think) benzene that exceeded legal limits. It damaged the brand so much that Coca Cola sensibly decided not to re-enter that market.

Well, unless you count Vitamin Water (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Brands) which is filtered tapwater with added vitamins (and rather a lot of sugar).

merlodlliw · 14 Sep 2011

Butts said:
Did they have to tip it all down the sink

I think it is still available in other parts of the world .

It is still avail around the globe I believe, It was interesting that when the local Council found too much benzine in it which also is used to decaff coffee, it brought to peoples attention that Coke was using tap water as well.
And plastic bottles are made from another petroleum by product.

Can I have some wine in my Austrian Anti Freeze please,comes to mind.

mickey · 14 Sep 2011

merlodlliw said:
It amused me when the 99P shop arrived(all Asian staff came with it)I only mention this due to no locals invited to work there,undercutting the £ shops by a penny.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, they are "local" - my sister went to school with some of them and they live just outside town. Just because they're not ethnically white doesn't mean they're 'taking jobs from the locals'.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

WestCoast said:
Are you sure about that? Home Bargains, established almost 30 years ago, are owned by Liverpool-based holding company TJ Morris

...And is so successful that the owner can commute to work by helicopter!

Butts · 14 Sep 2011

Greenback said:
I alwasys preferred the Menzies outlets to WH Smith's, whether on stations or the High Street. They always seemed a couple of pence cheaper when I was a teenager!

Good Scottish company

142094 · 15 Sep 2011

merlodlliw said:
It is still avail around the globe I believe, It was interesting that when the local Council found too much benzine in it which also is used to decaff coffee

Not sure if benzene is used to decaffeinate coffee any more, most big companies seem to use just water.

michael769 · 15 Sep 2011

142094 said:
Not sure if benzene is used to decaffeinate coffee any more, most big companies seem to use just water.

As I understand it most of the benzine is removed during the processing stage. In any case according to the wikipedia link it was bromate not benzine (well at least I got the first letter right).

I believe the bromate was a UK specific issue resulting from flaws in the design of their filtering process - and once it was dealt with they would have been allowed to put it back on sale - but Coca Cola correctly realised that this incident combined with the criticism of their health and purity claims had fatally damaged the product's brand image in the UK and chose not to do so. They have subsequently released similar products under different brand names.

Personally I have no problem with marketing bottled tap water as a convenience product, I just object to some of the health and purity claims that sued to be made, given that the UK has the strictest water quality requirements on the planet, to the point where our tap water is cleaner and safer than most bottled spring water products. Thankfully the EU has banned the use of purity or health claims for bottled water.

IanXC · 15 Sep 2011

fsmr said:
Just make sure it is potable (drinking) water though
Many toilets hand washing water is not which is why you sometimes see another pipe and tap. Could be full of all sorts of bacteiria such as listeria, legionela mm lovely

Another thing to be aware of is Grey Water. Up until recently it would be something like using sink waste to flush toilets, but (I'm not certain if its in use yet) there are proposals to use rainwater for hand washing.

I would really discourage use of any tap you don't know that doesn't say "drinking water".

merlodlliw · 15 Sep 2011

IanXC said:
Another thing to be aware of is Grey Water. Up until recently it would be something like using sink waste to flush toilets, but (I'm not certain if its in use yet) there are proposals to use rainwater for hand washing.

I would really discourage use of any tap you don't know that doesn't say "drinking water".

To end my contribution to this, before the mods do.
1. Benzene is still used to decaff coffee in some country's, & then put on sale in the UK. Only Taylors of Harrogate advertise on their packs that the water process was used by them.
2.Next door to me is Coed Llandegla,with its International Mountain Bike runs,Walks & ten miles of Equitation routes, some arrive by rail (Wrexham General is 7 miles away with an hourly bus), at the visitor centre they harvest water for the toilets, signs read due to harvesting rain water from the roof,which is wooden, the loo water will appear deeply clouded, please do not flush before use, all do, tap water is only from the mains for hand washing.
the managers tell me the harvested water is disliked by everyone, it looks as though the bog was not flushed. The tank farm lasts a week without rain then reverts to mains water.

Bob

142094 · 15 Sep 2011

Nescafe Decaff also says that it uses only water. Of course stuff from other countries will be different. IIRC Nescafe is still made in York.

michael769 · 15 Sep 2011

That grinding noise you hear is the topic being re-railed

Personally I avoid travel outlets like the plague, preferring to get what I need from the supermarkets in advance, but I will admit on occasion to having been caught out and deciding to pay through the nose for convenience - but I really feel financially dirty when I do so.

Incidentally as most branches are in major cities is is usually easy enough to find an alternative outside the station nearby.

mickey · 15 Sep 2011

142094 said:
IIRC Nescafe is still made in York.

Nescafe has never been made in York. The UK version is, however, made in Hayes.

bicbasher · 18 Sep 2011

Luckily my local WHSmith at Forest Hill is next to the station, so comes under the Retail part of the business and not travel, so it's 'reasonable' compared to a station shop.

My friend works for a station WHSmith and they have targets to meet. When they ask you if you want a bar of chocolate with your newspaper, they all have to sell x amount of those and has to put up with endless complaints about overcharging etc. Not to mention pax wanting travel advice!

Incidentally when I purchased a bottle of water at Brighton station, I went to M&S Simply Food where I was charged the normal price!

WestCoast · 18 Sep 2011

bicbasher said:
My friend works for a station WHSmith and they have targets to meet. When they ask you if you want a bar of chocolate with your newspaper, they all have to sell x amount of those and has to put up with endless complaints about overcharging etc.

I still won't buy it! There is a reason why other successful retailers (such as Tesco) don't do that. With all the fuss about sweets near tills in supermarkets, I am surprised they still shove confectionery in peoples' faces.

jon0844 · 18 Sep 2011

Just don't take a pen and paper into your local Tesco!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2011/sep/16/tesco-shopping-supermarket-prices-check-writing

WestCoast · 18 Sep 2011

jonmorris0844 said:
Just don't take a pen and paper into your local Tesco!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2011/sep/16/tesco-shopping-supermarket-prices-check-writing

Off-topic, but I've always thought Britain does have a bit of a fascination with supermarkets, in other countries supermarket shopping seems a bit more low key - less of this constant price comparison (propaganda, which is manipulated massively) and tribal shopping.

Anyway, regarding stations, I am glad to see that some of the food shops are encroaching on WHSmith.

bicbasher · 19 Sep 2011

WestCoast said:
I still won't buy it! There is a reason why other successful retailers (such as Tesco) don't do that. With all the fuss about sweets near tills in supermarkets, I am surprised they still shove confectionery in peoples' faces.

And he's in agreement with you, however he doesn't dictate company policy and attempts to do his job in the best way possible.

The London terminus stores appear to be well staffed and maintained. However go outside the capital and they can be understaffed and packed to the rafters with products.

krisk · 19 Sep 2011

I won't use WH Smiths due to their pricing policy full stop. How they never followed Woolworths I will never know.

At Piccadilly, just outside their is an Aleefs newsagent with a decent magazine and drinks choices and tobacco at prices cheaper than WHS.

WestCoast · 19 Sep 2011

bicbasher said:
And he's in agreement with you, however he doesn't dictate company policy and attempts to do his job in the best way possible.

Yes, I know what it is like to enforce 'unreasonable' company policy.

142094 · 19 Sep 2011

mickey said:
Nescafe has never been made in York. The UK version is, however, made in Hayes.

News to me. I recently visited an anaerobic digester in east Yorkshire, which had received a delivery of spolit coffee from Nestle (long story but I was told it was from York - might have been from the warehouses there).

jon0844 · 19 Sep 2011

krisk said:
I won't use WH Smiths due to their pricing policy full stop. How they never followed Woolworths I will never know.

I think they've come fairly close. Certainly shopping centre branches are now selling just about everything (or trying to), but the inconsistency from branch to branch means I'd not think to try them if looking for something - besides perhaps a magazine.

But, as we found, even with magazines you won't find a single magazine in every branch, as the size given over for newspaper and magazines varies so much.

Xenophon PCDGS · 19 Sep 2011

Unlike many other outlets, W H Smith have become something of a tradition at railway stations and are just carrying on the tradition. However, tradition means nothing to the accountants at W H Smith and if their market share of station facilities were to decrease dramatically, you would most certainly see discussions taking place with the company and the relevant railway authorities.

WH Smiths at Railway Stations

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