Sainsbury's-owned Argos to shut all Irish stores

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 20, 2023

UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is to shutter all of its Argos general merchandise stores in the Republic of Ireland. Some 34 sites across the country will close by June with the loss of 580 jobs.

Sainsbury’s told Sky News that a review had concluded “investment required to develop and modernise the Irish part of its business was not viable and that the money would be better invested in other parts of its business”.

Argos’s digital in-store format operates in the Republic of Ireland with a “significantly different” business model to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, meaning the closures would not affect any of the company’s other branches, it said.

The after-sales, returns, refunds and exchanges policy will continue to apply until Argos stores close, it also said.

Andy McClelland, Argos Ireland Operations Manage, added: “We understand this is difficult news for our customers and colleagues. As with any major change to our business, we have not made this decision lightly and we are doing everything we can to support those impacted.”

Sainsbury’s said it would propose an enhanced redundancy package for the affected workers during negotiations.

Sainsbury's acquired the Argos business in 2016 for £1.4 billion to accelerate its strategy to be a multi-product, multi-channel retailer.