John Menzies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about John Menzies, the Scottish logistics firm. For the former US-Bosnian ambassador and academic, see John K. Menzies.

John Menzies PLC is a Scottish business established in 1833. It has two main divisions: Menzies Distribution and Menzies Aviation. Menzies Distribution is a major distributor of newspapers and magazines throughout the UK. Menzies Aviation is a provider of aviation services to many airlines.

The John Menzies name is still strongly associated with their now-defunct retail operation, particularly in Scotland.

[edit] Former retail business

Until the late-1990s, John Menzies also owned a chain of newsagent shops, many of which were based at railway stations. However, in Scotland, it also owned a significant number of larger stores, dominating the same market niche that W H Smith's High Street stores occupied in England and Wales.

In the late 1980s, John Menzies purchased 66 of the Martin Retail Group's largest stores in England, doubling their floor-space overnight. These stores (which had previously traded as Martin the Newsagent, Lavells Newsagents, Lewis Meeson, RS McColl, Sperrings, and House of Andrew) were quickly rebranded as Menzies' stores.

The retail operation was sold to W H Smith in 1998 to enable Menzies to concentrate on its distribution business.

[edit] Pronunciation

The name Menzies is pronounced /ˈmɪŋɪs/ ("Mingis") as the "z" is in fact the letter <ȝ> (yogh), which was lost from print with the latinisation required for