CLOSING TIME
Iconic high street brand to close more shops for good – is your local branch affected?
AN ICONIC high street brand is set to close more shops for good after making a major change to how it operates.
Argos is shutting a handful of standalone stores on high streets with one closing its doors within weeks.
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It comes as part of a move by the retailer's owners, Sainsbury's, to set up Argos concessions within supermarkets.
Argos' Coatbridge branch in Lanarkshire, Scotland will shut its doors forever on Saturday, March 11.
Cardiff Bay's Argos will close in July - but Sainsbury's has not yet given an exact date.
Argos will then close its Newport, Wales branch later on in the summer.
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It follows the closures of two standalone Argos branches in January.
The Coventry City Arcade store pulled down the shutters for the final time on January 7.
Argos closed its flagship store in Nottingham City Centre on January 14.
Branches in Bolton Bridge Street and Doncaster are among several to close by the end of last year, as part of Sainsbury's existing plans to shut 50 standalone branches by March 2023.
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But some locations, like Doncaster, have since had new Argos outlets added in nearby Sainsbury's stores.
Argos is moving away from the high street and expanding its presence in supermarkets, with concessions inside branches.
By the end of March 2023, the retailer will have opened 25 Argos locations inside Sainsbury's stores.
By March 2024 Sainsbury's expects to have 160 standalone stores and between 430 and 460 Argos counters inside Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
Sainsbury's bought Argos in 2016 and has since moved many high street locations into stores.
In 2019 it announced the closure of 70 Argos stores and plan to open 80 new ones in supermarkets.
The latest closures come after the retailer announced it will shut all its 34 stores in the Republic of Ireland.
It announced plans to axe a further 120 stores at the end of 2020, as part of the first stage of a strategy to shut 420 standalone Argos shops permanently over three-and-a-half years.
Right now, the chain employs around 580 people across the country.
But the high street chain will withdraw from Ireland completely on June 24.
It made the decision to leave Ireland following "careful consideration" and a "thorough review" of its business and operations in the country.
The company said it found that the investment required to develop and modernise the Irish part of its business was "not viable".
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It added that the money would be better invested in other parts of its business.
And we've listed all of the shops and chains closing down this year.
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