24/10/2012

75 Argos Stores To Close Or Move

At least 75 Argos stores will be closed or relocated within the next five years, Home Retail Group, the stores owners, have said.

They have said it is part of the company's plans to change Argos into a digitally-led retailer instead of being predominantly catalogue-led.

It plans to move its stores onto shorter leases to make relocation easier.

Argos has more than 700 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

10 store closures are expected in the current financial year with no openings.

The announcement came with the release of Home Retail Group's six month results. Pre-tax profits for the six months to the start of September came in at £51.1m, up 74% from the comparable period last year.

But that figure was flattered by an exceptional £35m gain from the retailer reducing its future liabilities by closing its final salary pension scheme. Stripping out that gain and other one-off items, profits were down 37% to £17.9m.

Home Retail Group also owns Homebase and Habitat. It bought the rights to the Habitat brand, as well as three of its stores, in June 2011.

(H)


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