Argos to close all Irish stores starting March

Loafing Oaf · 19-01-2023 03:29PM

Farewell then to the laminated book of dreams and the pale mythical wardens of the treasure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggOa9aSG-Ow

Got a nice laundry basket in the Castlebar branch last year, must pick up another one before they close...

Quitelife · 19-01-2023 03:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129643#Comment_120129643

Many UK high streets are full of vacant units, a few poundlands and Phone repair shops, be the same here soon

cj maxx · 19-01-2023 03:34PM

Im not that bothered. Been getting spam emails from them saying ive won vouchers, pure spamming now though it may have been argos uk

19-01-2023 03:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129275#Comment_120129275

Buy a single item for the full value and then sell on Adverts.

Or you could sell the voucher itself for a bit less than its face value.

HildaOgdenx · 19-01-2023 03:39PM

Sorry to see them go. I always found them handy for various bits and pieces.

Another empty unit in shopping centres/ retail units nationwide.

I hope that things work out well for the staff.

Tippman24 · 19-01-2023 03:53PM

My kids would have me driven demented when the new Argos Catalogue would be coming out. This was in the pre internet days and yet they knew when the bloody thing was due in the Stores. Day of its arrival would be ordered to get same. I would always get 2 as it stopped a few rows breaking out. A few times I felt that the best and only thing they should get for Christmas was the Catalogue.

Juran · 19-01-2023 03:57PM

I remember in the 80's, when we were kids, we used to go over to visit aunts & uncles in London. We used to love picking out stuff in the Argos catalogue and going in there to pick up our bits, with our hard earn holiday money. We used to bring the catalogue home and read every page of it over and over for the next year.

Phil.x · 19-01-2023 04:10PM

It's a sad day for staff and bricks and mortar shops, outdated business method IMHO. Jesus will there be any shops other than coffee and fast food left. Curse you amazon and all your convenience and competitive pricing.

19-01-2023 04:10PM

When the kids were in junior infants and learning letters they used to have to stick pictures in their book of items that started with A, B, C etc.

We used to use the Argos catalog to find pictures to cut out and stick.

19-01-2023 04:41PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129913#Comment_120129913

And E bay too.

Oscar_Madison · 19-01-2023 04:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129866#Comment_120129866

Totally - everything from Computers (Vic 20) to Cameras (Zenith Russian made) - you could get things in Argos though that you could never get in Irish shops- mad things like a clothes line pole 😀

Loved the catalogues and people really did spend a fair whack of money in Argos every year- I remember queuing in Belfast for not far off an hour just to submit our order - about 6 lines of queues to the counter - great times

pnott · 19-01-2023 04:43PM

Disappointed but not surprised. Recently all Argos stores I have passed or been in have been very quiet. The Irish part of their business always seemed very badly run compared with their UK operations. Their UK website is streets ahead of the Irish one. Argos themselves have said the same thing basically. They said that the amount of investment required to develop and modernise their Irish operations was not viable.

Sunny Dayz · 19-01-2023 04:49PM

Like many others commenting here - it was handy for bit and pieces throughout the years - stuff when we moved into our first place, toys and video games for the young lad, office stuff for when at college or working.

But yes in recent years the company has lagged behind. The website is useless on the phone so I can only use it at a pc. When I want to buy something it's often not in my local store but can be ordered to store in a day or two, which was ok sometimes but a bit of an inconvenience to be honest. I've been trying to buy a slow cooker from them but the ones I want have all been out of stock since christmas, so at this stage I may start looking elsewhere. We were only talking about Argos recently and commented that our local one the unit seems quite empty and must be costing a bit in rent as they don't seem to even hold much stock there.

But yes I remember the excitement of the new catalogue being released. We used to have to get 2 in our house otherwise there'd be fighting over it! Then as a teenage girl pouring over the jewellery pages.

French Toast · 19-01-2023 04:51PM

Window shopping the Argos catalogue was a pass time in our house 20 or so years ago.

I remember at least 2 pages given over to covers for Nokia 3310s with various patterns and cartoon characters on them. That and blue inflatable furniture.

Nothing lasts forever I suppose. Sad to hear of job losses for people.

jack of all · 19-01-2023 04:53PM

It's a shame but not surprising, last time I was in there it was very quiet, but they did have what I wanted and for much less than what the other retailers were charging. Although no longer affiliated I think Homebase could be in trouble too. I hope the employees find other work soon.

Riddle101 · 19-01-2023 05:10PM

Sad to hear, obviously because of the loss of jobs but also because I have a lot of memories of shopping in Argos for Christmas presents and other stuff. Used to remember flicking through the Argos catalog as a kid whenever a new issue came out and mentally picking things out that I would buy if I were a millionaire.

feargantae · 19-01-2023 05:12PM

I definitely didn't help them. Used to reserve an item then buy it cheaper on Amazon. Collect the Argos order that day, then return the Amazon one to Argos whenever it came.

Oops

skinny90 · 19-01-2023 05:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129062#Comment_120129062

An investment needed to change their business model, not double down on an already failing one.

their website is a case and point, they simply did not react to change.

Their business processes, back end logistics and stock mgmt is the stuff of dreams in terms of efficiently its not like change couldnt happen they choose to ignore it and double down on "argos it"

NIMAN · 19-01-2023 05:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130035#Comment_120130035

No harm if ebay died,its a totally user's website.

I remember using it a lot when it first started, it was fantastic. Got loads of unusual things and lots of bargains. When it was all auctions .

Then it turned into just selling things at normal prices, and took out element of it being a bidding site. I'd say 95% of it is now just 'buy stuff at this price '. What's the point of that? It's mostly overpriced and amazon do it much much better.

19-01-2023 05:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130035#Comment_120130035

ebay is gone to the situation of almost irrelevance for Irish buyers in most cases really considering that the only decent postage on items was from the UK and Brexit fcuked that right up with increased postage costs and VAT + customs collection fees and the fact that many buyers just won't even post to Ireland given their experience with an post

Padre_Pio · 19-01-2023 05:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130265#Comment_120130265

Yeah, eBay is like amazon with no oversight. Full of tat, though that's the Irish experience. It has a much bigger userbase in the UK and US, while we use Adverts and Donedeal.

Strumms · 19-01-2023 05:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128604#Comment_120128604

This ^^^

There is an Argos 2 kilometres away to the north and another 2 kilometres to the west of my place.

beyond convenient…

when the pandemic was just becoming news, I got the vibe that things were going to get blisteringly shïtty I just procured loads of PS4 games….Fitness gadgets like new resistance bands, pedometer, suspension trainer…. From walking out my front door to home in about an hour.

beauty about Argos is you don’t need to ‘wait’ for ordering and delivery…. Look for product / shop-stock-reserve-collect….

its a strange move on behalf of Argos. Of the 34 outlets would they not just close the ones that are losing money ?

on the other hand maybe landlords / rents are fleecing them. Who knows….

Hurrache · 19-01-2023 05:41PM

Been a couple of years since I picked up anything there. As others said it used to be pretty handy for picking random things up and you used to get decent deals. But then they never seem to have a variety of things in stock and their pricing became uncompetitive.

But their Irish website was the pits, particularly when it tried make you use the mobile site. And they really shot themselves in the foot when they cause hassle for the boardsie who made that great checkargos website.

It just dropped off my radar for checking for anything to the point I'd even check Harvey Norman or Currys beforehand.

Strumms · 19-01-2023 05:56PM

The site looks aesthetically like something from about 2003. yet I always find it pleasantly functional..

NIMAN · 19-01-2023 06:01PM

Their click and collect was very handy too.

I don't think I have gone in store, filled in the little docket for maybe 7 or 8 yrs. Always click and collect.

Slightly Kwackers · 19-01-2023 06:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128582#Comment_120128582

I liked the Argos store here because it was one of the few places you knew the price without picking up the phone or found a name to drop at the counter.

Having said that my entire purchases in the last fifteen years or so was a Kindle and a slow cooker.

As for the catalog, I have always thought of it as the dark Satanic bible of the capitalist bourgeoisie, in spite of the brightly coloured piccies!

Strumms · 19-01-2023 06:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129913#Comment_120129913

What will high streets and shopping centres look like in 20 years ? Will indeed they be viable ? Probably not.

many fields, farms, and bit of spare land in suburbs have massive distribution/warehouse facilities a la Amazon built ? So big they have their own separate climates in different parts ?

19-01-2023 06:11PM

I’m disappointed as I could pick up bits and pieces that were sometimes difficult to get elsewhere, it was very convenient popping into the Dundrum store whilst doing other shopping there. Within the last two years I noticed it was almost always empty, which wasn’t a good sign. I’m sorry for the staff, they have been there quite some time.

19-01-2023 06:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130437#Comment_120130437

Some people love to simply go out and pick up stuff they’ve ordered, especially when doing other business in an area. I imagine we might see another form of Argos crossed with Amazon, where you order something online, then go pick it up rather than having it delivered. But this would likely be a big distribution centre accessible from likes of M50 from where they also offer a delivery service. With coffee shop and other attractions onsite, maybe like a more versatile IKEA.

19-01-2023 06:20PM

It's really not surprising at all.

Argos is operating a business model from the 1950s - a catalogue shop. It's long since been replaced by online retail and frankly the Argos website is ludicrously bad. They'd every opportunity to turn themselves into a serious online contender, but they didn't and now they're fading away.

Argos could have been a British Amazon, but then plenty of catalogue retailers could have made that leap and didn't. They didn't have the vision, the venture capital (the big driver) or the scale and technology to do it. So, a lot of that 'it could have been' stuff is just fantasy.

Argos was bought by Sainsbury's and the UK stores have effectively been closed and rolled into Sainsbury's locations to make them more cost effective to operate. How long they continue is anyone's guess. It's quite possible Argos might disappear entirely.

The other aspect that I notice the company and news reports aren't mentioning is Brexit. Argos is effectively isolated in a UK supply chain and would have had to invest money in Irish infrastructure and buyers to keep its Irish stores stocked. it's not feasible to buy in the UK supply chains and operate from UK warehousing anymore. There are huge tax and customs implications since the UK left the single market.

My guess is their exit from Ireland is probably the canary in the coal mine anyway. The UK is headed into a recession and Argos may just vanish entirely.

I think you're going to see a rather serious thinning out of British high street retailers over the next 12 months. A lot of things are coming home to roost.

Argos to close all Irish stores starting March

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