W H SMITH TIMELINE

London: SELIA. New. 2009. First Edition. Paperback. 8vo 9780907370079 pp. 102. Illustrated. From the "Introduction The history of W.H.Smith provides a perfect illustration of how a family-run newsagent's business, operating from a small shop in London, could develop into the country's largest wholesale distributor of newspapers as well as becoming the first multiple retailer. The story also exemplifies the Victorian ideal of `self-help' which held that anyone, however humble their background, could rise to a position of wealth and influence so long as they had a strong sense of moral purpose and were prepared to work hard. At the start of the nineteenth century the Smith business was a modest affair with a single shop. By using the developing network of turnpike roads and fast horse-drawn coaches to distribute newspapers throughout the British Isles, the business, within a few years, had grown to be the country's largest wholesaler of London newspapers. The entrepreneurial abilities of a succession of owners ensured that the business kept abreast of rapidly-changing transport technology and the coming of the railways not only provided a much faster means of distributing newspapers but also allowed W.H.Smith to become a major retailer by opening a railway station bookstall in most towns throughout England and Wales. This success in business enabled W.H.Smith II to enter politics and eventually to rise to such eminent positions as First Lord of the Admiralty and Leader of the House of Commons, thereby re-inforcing the Victorian belief that social mobility was available to all who were prepared to work for it. Early in the twentieth century the W.H.Smith business was faced with commercial disaster as a result of its dependence on the periodic renewal of bookstall contracts with the various railway companies. This threat was countered, firstly by developing a network of newspaper wholesaling warehouses and then, following the loss of important contracts with two railway companies, W.H.Smith & Son managed to re-invent its retail business by opening shops in most of the towns where previously it had run a bookstall at the local railway station. Along with the remaining bookstalls, the new chain of shops, which specialised in the sale of books, news and stationery, developed rapidly, first in high streets and then in shopping precincts, with the result that a W.H.Smith branch became a familiar sight at most retailing locations as well as at major transport sites such as bus stations, railway stations and airports. Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the W.H.Smith name has become synonymous with the distribution of reading matter as well as a wide variety of other products associated with leisure and travel. This timeline seeks to cover the history of W.H.Smith by highlighting events in the business as well as the Smith family. These events, some major and others quite trivial, combine to provide an outline of how a small family business developed into an organisation that has become part of the nation's urban landscape." .