Menzies Aviation history

1835: Menzies begins a book wholesale business.

In 1855, Menzies added more newspapers sales to his lists--the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror--and sought other newspaper distribution opportunities.

1857: The first of the company's newsstands are opened.

Wholesale remained the company's major source of revenues, representing more than three-quarters of the company's sales by 1860, a percentage that only increased in the following decades.

In just a few years, John Menzies had secured the rights to bookstalls in almost every part of Scotland, including in 1862, Waverley Station in the heart of Edinburgh.

The new partnership, called John Menzies and Company, prepared to extend beyond its Edinburgh focus when it opened its first wholesale warehouse in Glasgow in 1868.

1922: Company acquires U.K. tobacconist chain Finlay's.

Toward the end of that same decade, Menzies returned to its founding business; in 1928 it acquired Elliott's book shop on Edinburgh's Prince's Street, down the block from the original Menzies location.

By 1958, as Menzies celebrated its 125-year anniversary, the company had opened or acquired another 19 stores and was on its way to becoming one of the United Kingdom's pre-eminent booksellers.

John Menzies soon extended its dominance into England, when, in 1959, it acquired publicly-held Wymans.

In 1980, the company acquired Terry Blood (Records) Ltd., which formed the core of the company's later Total Home Entertainment subsidiary.

At the same time, Menzies was building up an internationally operating distribution business in library supply and commercial stationery products with the purchases of Lonsdale Universal plc and Cambridge Jackson, both in 1982.

In 1985, Menzies added the acquisition of the Early Learning Centre chain of U.K. stores specializing in toys and games for very young children.

1989: Menzies enters the wholesale courier services market.

The company extended its new Transport Services division with the freight handler Cargosave in 1990.

Further acquisitions and contract wins saw our business begin cargo transport and handling at London’s Heathrow Airport, and in 1995, the business moved to new modern headquarters at Edinburgh Park, where it is still based today.

First, the company sold off its chain of John Menzies retail shops to rival WH Smith for £68 million in March 1998, and then it announced its intent to sell the struggling Early Learning Centre chain.