With over 1,300 stores currently operating, WHSmith is still today one of our favourite stationary and book shops to visit. With everything from magazines and sat-navs and board games to new books and painting canvases and DVDS, Smiths offers a lot of products to people with a variety of mainly creative interests. But on a visit to the store, do you ever think about the mechanics behind those beautifully arranged drawing paper pads? Do you ever wonder who exactly it is who will be rearranging all the birthday cards after you've just picked and re-picked and put them back in the wrong places? Do you ever wonder who has to tidy up the kids section after a massive congregation of busy shoppers have passed through the store on a Saturday afternoon? It is the brave and wonderful WHSmith employees who battle against the woes of working in retail to give you great service day after day. But while they might have a smile plastered on their faces and seem to retain knowledge about every artistic device available in the store, you might be surprised to realise that under the surface, many of them are at their wits end. WHSmith workers: it's time to glorify your work ethics, and sympathise with the problems you all go through on a daily basis. And praise you, for your long-standing work in one of the country's favourite book and stationary stores.
I love Stephen King and music festivals; I eat my toast upside down; I daydream about getting married probably a bit too much; and I wish every day for a pet sausage dog puppy (who never materialises – sob).
