Argos

Carlow man

Argos to close all of its stores

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/argos-to-close-all-irish-stores-42298572.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=seeding&fbclid=IwAR3Ow02TkG0E1VWsk3Nr854h3enAzX8sFq3TGY5EWB9P4f_FDZOmOolOp7I

mikeybhoy

Sad to hear but not surprised

It is a Dunne Deal

The storm clouds are gathering.

mikeybhoy

Never really bought much stuff in Argos over the years. Used to like looking at the catalogues when I was a kid. Never really thought much of their shops. If I want toys I'd go to Smyths, if I want furniture I'd go to IKEA or a furniture shop, if I want DIY and garden stuff I'd go to Woodies or B+Q, if I want electrical stuff I'd go to Harvey Norman or Powercity and if I want jewellery I'd go an actual jewellers.

I never saw what advantage Argos had over all the other options, it wasn't like they were cheap and the presence of online retailers probably was the final nail in their coffin. Wouldn't be surprised if their UK stores are next.

Neames

Tough break on all of the workers there. While I accept that online shopping created a big challenge for them, I thought that they were doing ok. They seemed to offer good value on various things. Sympathy for the workers, I don't think many of them would have seen this coming.

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128705#Comment_120128705

I would imagine that Brexit and Amazon were the storm clouds in this case, not a pending recession.

tjhook

Yeah, I'll be sorry to see them go too. They had a decent variety of goods, generally decent pricing (although some exceptions where things were very expensive), and appeared to be good to deal with when something was faulty.

Either way, less competition won't be good for the consumer.

I'd imagine the staff will be ok to find new jobs - they'd have experience of good up-to-date systems in Argos. I hope so anyway.

Meirleach

They were handy sometimes when you wanted to just pop into town and grab something quickly with a half decent range.

Argos really should have been the European Amazon they were ideally placed at least in UK&I, but they were incredibly slow to get online and even now their website is pants(don't make me click each store to see if an item is in stock, just show me the stores that have it!) and their online ordering system wasn't great either.

Still sad to see them go, less competition is bad for consumers. Plus a big hit to staff during a time of crazy expenses.

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130039#Comment_120130039

Yeah true enough but the problem their model sort of offered the disadvantages of both online shopping and bricks and mortar retail and the advantages of neither.

Not being able to go to the shop pick up the item off and the shelf and pay for it yourself but still having to go to actual shop is not ideal in this day and age. They had a good range if the products were actually in stock all the time which they weren't.

It is a Dunne Deal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129942#Comment_120129942

Could very well be but tis bad news nonetheless.

walterking

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129843#Comment_120129843

Ah stop it. They are all going to get very generous redundancy and they will all find new jobs a day after.

Huge number of vacancies in retail and service businesses

The staff are winners here

Neames

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131638#Comment_120131638

Maybe they will find jobs quickly and I hope they do get generous redundancy packages.

If you're of a certain age, the prospect of redundancy can be a worrying prospect. That's my point.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131638#Comment_120131638

When you are of a certain age it really does not matter how many jobs are out there, your chances of finding a new position will be very difficult. If you have health issues it may not be easy to establish a new career, get the support you had in the past position, if you have family care responsibilities it may not be easy for you and an array of other things.

Live has a lot to teach you and in particular not everyone is going to be a winner, some sadly will loose out and never recover.