It’s been over a year since high street stalwart WHSmith agreed to sell its UK high street business to Modella Capital to focus solely on its fast-growing travel retail division.

Following the move, the brand saw pre-tax profit and non-underlying items drop to £108m for the year ended 31 August 2025, from £114m the year before, as it faced a “difficult” end to the year.

Regardless, WHSmith’s former interim group CEO Andrew Harrison described travel retail as “a high growth market” and insisted that the company had “attractive market positions” in its UK, North America and international markets from which it was “well-positioned to grow”.

Indeed, the travel retail market is forecast to grow. According to market research firm Allied Market Research, the global travel retail market was valued at $52.7 billion (£39.54 billion) in 2021, and is predicted to hit $187.1 billion (£140.38 billion) by 2031.

Additionally, according to Indian market research report provider Fortune Business Insights, the global travel retail market size is projected to swell from $79.41 billion (£59.55 billion) in 2026 to $182.61 billion (£136.94 billion) by 2034.

It is unsurprising then that UK supermarkets are investing and growing their travel retail networks.

Waitrose

Waitrose unveiled plans to enter airport retail for the first time in April, with its products set to launch across four new Relay stores in Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport.

The move comes as part of a wholesale partnership with operator of the Relay brand, Lagardère Travel Retail, with the first store under the tie-up launched in May.

Three of the shops will be airside and one landside, with all four sites due to open by the end of 2026.

Each of the stores will sell a range of Waitrose food-to-go items tailored to passengers at Heathrow, including the supermarket’s No. 1 range.

The move comes under Waitrose’s plans to grow via additional channels alongside continued investment in its own stores and online business.

Sainsbury’s

In May, Sainsbury’s opened its first airport store in England at Luton Airport.

The move built on the supermarket’s first shop within a UK airport,  with the launch of an Edinburgh site in 2024.

The Luton store, which comprises a Sainsbury’s Local format, offers food, drink and travel essentials to passengers passing through the airport.

Commenting on its launch, Sainsbury’s central convenience stores director Andy Robinson said it was “a real milestone” for the business” as it brought “a Sainsbury’s Local into a completely different retail environment, designed around the needs of customers travelling through one of the UK’s busiest airports”.

This is an extract from a feature authored by Eloise Hill and first published on Retail Gazette, read the full article here. 

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning