WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) has no plans to open any new high street stores in the UK, its chief executive Carl Cowling said in an interview.
Instead, the retailer will focus on transport hubs, such as railway stations and airports, alongside growing in Europe and the US.
“We've got a very healthy high street business in the UK. But we've got no ambitions to grow that,” Cowling told the BBC.
UK high streets have faced growing challenges as the rise in online retailing has been exacerbated by lockdowns, strikes and rises in the cost of living.
As a result, high street footfall was almost 10% off pre-pandemic levels come March, according to the British Retail Consortium.
Cowling suggested that adding to WH Smith’s 550 high street stores would bring little benefit since it already operates in all UK cities.
“[It] would just be a duplication,” he said, adding WH Smith was “constantly winning tenders in airports.”
WH Smith is currently under investigation along with other operators about why prices of goods in railway stations are between 20% and 30% higher than on high streets.
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