Sainsbury's opens its 50th in-store Argos

Following its £1.4bn acquisition of Home Retail Group in September last year, Sainsbury’s has now begun to accelerate the roll-out of the in-store Argos concessions.

Last week, the 50th Argos store opened inside a Sainsbury’s and boss Mike Coupe has committed to opening another 200 by 2020. Ultimately, their vision is to have Argos represented in every Sainsbury's outlet in the country.

The company will also continue to invest in the Argos digital format, with plans to convert another 60 standalone branches.

Argos chief John Rodgers said "The opening of our 50th Argos digital store just seven months after we acquired the company shows we are moving ahead at pace with our strategy. Our decision to transform 60 Argos stores by March next year moves our strategy on further."

As part of the acquisition, Sainsbury's also got its hands on Habitat, the top end furniture brand and they intend to introduce at least another ten Habitat concessions inside Sainsbury's by the end of the financial year. At that point, they will have 17 Habitat branches operating.

The retailer reported a 0.5% fall in supermarket like-for-like sales in March and warned of price pressures from the weakened Sterling.

Read 'Sainsbury's and Argos report on Q4 trading'.

Source: Insight DIY Team

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