WHSmith has opened a new, roughly 1,830-square-foot flagship store in Gatwick Airport, DFNI Frontier reported.
The concept store, officially called "The Bookshop by WHSmith," is the largest of the retailer's 12 standalone shops in the U.K. and is the third WHSmith store in Gatwick Airport. The inventory features everything from mass market titles to children's literature.
New additions include a "Recommended Reads" section with staff favorites and handwritten shelf talkers, and the "Read Around the World" section, where customers can find books related to the countries they're traveling to.
"We're delighted to be launching our flagship 'The Bookshop by WHSmith' at Gatwick North," said WHSmith travel managing director Toby Keir. "Such an exciting and completely unique bookshop not only supports our strong relationship with Gatwick but builds on our position as a world-class bookseller as we continue to deliver fantastic choice and recommendations to our traveling customers."
Named British Book Retailer of the Year this year, WH Smith has some 1,400 shops that are primarily at airports, train stations, downtowns, highway stops and hospitals, and sells books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment and travel products, and some food. Most of its stores are in the U.K., although it has operations in some 28 other countries, mostly in airports. At various times, WH Smith owned Waterstones and Hodder Headline. Last year it bought InMotion, the digital accessories retailer that operates in U.S. airports, and it came close to buying Barnes & Noble.