The long list of cities ticked off on WH Smith’s global expansion tour includes destinations from Melbourne to Mumbai, Qatar to Kuala Lumpur, but it has long had one glaringly obvious gap — until yesterday.
After spending “quite some time” exploring its options, the newsagents’ chain announced that it had landed in the United States with the takeover of Inmotion, the largest seller of digital accessories such as mobile phone cases and charging cables, in American airports.
Steve Clarke, WH Smith’s chief executive, said that the £155m deal would provide a “really good route into the US”, allowing it to expand its book, stationery and convenience stores in airports across the country. He also hopes to open Inmotion stores outside America.
