It’s been a while since consumers across America started cutting back on discretionary spending to cope with rising inflation.
A March YouGov report reveals that a financial outlook strongly shapes intentions to reduce spending. For example, it explains that consumers who expect their financial situation to worsen are more likely to cut back on clothing purchases.
The U.S. Department of Commerce also noted that clothing store sales dropped another 0.7% month over month at the end of December 2025.
I recently reported how WH Smith, owner of several Las Vegas Strip clothing stores, including the Marshall Rousso and Misura brands, is quietly shutting down 26 retail locations. The ongoing decline in Las Vegas tourism, with visitors gambling more and shopping less, has left many high-end resort boutiques feeling squeezed.
However, WH Smith’s regulatory filings reveal a much bigger move: a full-scale continental retreat, triggered by a multi-million-dollar corporate scandal.
WH Smith plans to exit North American fashion
Within the full WH Smith/MRG fashion portfolio on the Strip, the main apparel brands include Marshall Rousso and Misura, as well as Paradiso Carina and The Dean.
Yet the company is closing all of its fashion stores on the Las Vegas Strip due to declining sales, and the corporate giant even plans to exit the North American fashion and specialty-store market entirely.
According to the company’s official 2025 Preliminary Results Announcement on the London Stock Exchange, the retailer is completely abandoning its resort apparel formats to execute an enhanced focus strictly on airport and travel convenience stalls.
WH Smith also announced the following priorities to deliver profitable growth and enhanced return on capital:
- Expanding UK Travel essentials, health and beauty, and food-to-go offering
- Strengthening focus on North America travel essentials
- Exiting North American fashion and specialty stores and reviewing InMotion North America portfolio
- Strengthening core ROW markets, driving new growth through franchise model, reviewing and exiting non-core markets
Source: WH Smith announcement
Why WH Smith is exiting the U.S. entirely
Weak sales are not the only reason for WH Smith’s North American retreat.
An independent investigation conducted by Deloitte LLP revealed that the company’s North American division had been systematically overstating its supplier income and promotional rebate revenues.
The official Deloitte Review indicates that the division ignored company rules for counting money received from suppliers, making it look as if the division was bringing in far more cash than it actually was.
“The accounting treatment for supplier income adopted by the North America division was not consistent with the Group’s stated accounting policy and consequently was not consistent with the requirements of the relevant accounting standards,” reads the document.
Because of overreporting the income in the past, the company must now go back and fix the financial records for previous years.
The cash from the suppliers does exist, but the U.S. office recorded supplier income earlier than permitted under accounting policy, reveals the review document.
“This is an extremely serious matter that has had the Board’s full attention, and we sincerely apologise for the shortcomings identified. While the issues identified arose in our North America division, we recognise the importance of strengthening controls, governance and reporting procedures across the Group,” stated Annette Court, chair of WH Smith PLC.
When the news broke, the company’s stock suffered a 42% single-day crash, PublishersLunch reported, instantly vaporizing roughly £600 million ($760+ million) in total market value.
Surprisingly, the multi-million-dollar discrepancy wasn’t caught by the company’s official gatekeepers. Global accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) had been auditing the firm’s books since 2015 and repeatedly signed off on the inflated figures. The accounting errors were revealed by internal finance team members who officially blew the whistle.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has also launched an investigation into PwC’s audit of WH Smith.
Why did the WH Smith accounting error occur, and how does it affect profits?
The Deloitte Review said the multi-million dollar mistake happened due to strong pressure to hit financial targets and inadequate supervision of the U.S. office.
“The North America supplier income issue has arisen against a backdrop of a target-driven performance culture and decentralised divisional structure combined with a limited level of Group oversight of the finance processes in North America,” reads the document.
Related: Outdoor retail giant closes 59 stores in Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The mistake affected WH Smith’s true profits. While investors and the stock market projected that the North American division would report a massive £55 million ($72.5 million) profit, the company announced a significant revision.
“In North America, Headline trading profit is expected to be in the range of £5m-£15m, down from revised expectation of around £25m announced on 21 August 2025 and previous market expectations of £55m,” the company stated.
As a result of the review, the company expects to incur fees of up to £10m within non-underlying costs in FY25.
WH Smith CEO steps down as company recovers “overpaid bonuses“
The WH Smith scandal led to CEO Carl Cowling stepping down. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also launched a formal enforcement investigation over possible breaches of accounting rules by the company’s North America division.
Additionally, the board is working on recovering “overpaid bonuses from former executive directors following the restatement of profits in the financial years ended 31 August 2023 and 31 August 2024.”
Meanwhile, on April 7, 2026, WH Smith confirmed in a filing that instead of hiring a traditional group CEO, shareholders approved Leo Quinn’s appointment as the company’s executive chair.
Which stores are closing?
The company didn’t specify which stores are affected by these closures. TheStreet previously reached out to the company for more details, but WH Smith declined to comment.
WH Smith’s fashion brands:
- Marshall Rousso: Offers a collection of women’s lifestyle fashion apparel, including handbags, jewelry, and shoes.
- Misura: A contemporary men’s apparel and lifestyle boutique with shops located inside luxury casino resorts in Las Vegas.
- Bella Scarpa: Italian for “beautiful shoe,” Bella Scarpa is “an elegant boutique catering to women who seek a feminine, sexy style with bold panache.”
- The Dean: Includes men’s fashion and other products from popular brands such as Boss, Herschel, Kiehl’s, Mizzen + Main, Shinola, Tumi, and Vince Camuto.
- @ ease: Offers athleisure apparel and accessories with collections from Puma, Prana, DYI, Shape, and Marmot.
- Aka: Men’s apparel spans lifestyle brands from Rock Revival and Hugo Boss to Tommy Bahama and Bugatchi.
- Carina: Chic apparel featuring designers such as Joseph Ribkoff,Miss Me, and Alberto Makal.
- Paradiso: The luxurious fashion chain offers “glamorous women’s wear, shoes and accessories from an enviable list of designers.”
- O Man: Offers a lifestyle boutique for men.
Source: WH Smith North America
Related: Mall footwear retailer closes 82 stores as shoppers trade up
