This branch of WHSmith is the most reviewed branch in Newcastle city centre of WHSmith with an…read moreimpressive 12 reviews on Yelp, including those merged across from Qype. It is probably the largest store I saw on my recent trip to the Tyne and Wear Region of WHSmith, which included branches in Newcastle Central Railway Station, Durham and the Gateshead Metrocentre. This branch was my favourite out of the ones mentioned mainly down to the size, it had a good product range for items such as lever arch folders, drinks and snacks etc. The drink selection was good however I found the 2 for £2.50 promotion to be a tad expensive, considering Superdrug nearby runs a promotion to have 2 for £2, which works out £1.80 with my Unidays Discount however sadly the range they have is much poorer than the WHSmith branch, when comparing the branch nearby to this one. There also is a huge staircase in the store, with the upper floor having some more WHSmith floor space as I recall and a post office. The staff member working seemed friendly enough, although I did have to take longer checking out my items as for some reason the self-service tills wouldn't recognise the 2 for £2.50 offer on my drinks, meaning it would take longer as I had to go to the manned checkout, then I had to go through the slightly longer process of finding my card after being told they don't accept Apple Pay by an employee, only to go on to find out they did accept it and the member of staff who served me didn't know about it. This is a large, decent branch of WHSmith, staff training on payment methods, machines recognising offers and pricing needs to be worked off at paramount importance, but until then this is still a decent store and a nice branch of the chain to warrant a three-star rating.

WHSmith is one of those shops that makes you feel really depressed as soon as you walk through the…read moredoors. This store in particular is very grotty and every visit to it so far has left me feeling deflated. The blue fluorescent lighting makes the shop horrible and dingy and the staff look like they are working in a prison. The store is far too big for what it is (a newsagent) and they never seem to have enough stock to justify the space. Especially upstairs. All that is up there is the post office and stationery, with a huge empty gap in the middle. I only really come here to buy snacks on the go as they have a good selection of confectionery, including American chocolates. I would have left a 1 star review but the confectionery lifts it up to 2. But as a whole, WHSmith works better in the travel industry, like in train stations and airports because their main high street stores are always eerily quiet and depressing, with the only noises being your footsteps and the occasional beeping of the self checkout.