Very disappointing but not a surprise, they’ve been closing some stores already over the last couple of years. Used to be three Argos in Limerick, now it’s down to one.
Their closing down sale should be interesting.
Everything that *no-one* wanted to buy, even from Argos.
Amazon was burying them, Brexit put the last nail in the coffin for their Irish stores, their website was a mess and never updated (in contrast to the UK one), this isn’t a surprise really…
Been said around Sligo for months that the store here was closing in the summer. Guess it was true.
Rarely used it, but they did save me a few times over the years when they had something in stock that I needed the same day. Occasionally you’d get some decent sales on PS4 games there as well.
It was great pre amazon. Used to love looking at the catalogue as a child for all the toys I was never going to get
If Amazon bought them or they did some warehousing deal they could be really good.
Not surprising. I don’t think the Irish website has been updated since it launched in the 00s. Was handy for things sold out of stock everywhere as people seemed to forget it existed and you could pop over to one and collect it then and there.
Once Prime opened up here, that was the end of Argos for me. There’d be Christmas times when I was nearly on first name basis with Argos staff but I’ve not stepped foot in one for years now.
With Prime available now, it’s just far easier, and often far cheaper, to get Amazon to ship stuff out :/
Can’t remember the last time I shopped in argos, the website I felt was never great. Best of luck to the staff, hopefully they find jobs soon.
They haven’t given much of a shit about their Irish outlets anyway, just updating the irish online site would of (have, fucking bot)made them alot of money over the years but zero fucks or incompetent.
Very sad news, but the writing’s been on the wall for a few years now. It’s a wonder they were doing any business at all compared to other places, their prices for electronics were often much higher, and even double the price on their UK site.
Ever since Sainsbury took over them a few years ago, they seem to have forgotten about Irish shops entirely. They haven’t even updated their IE website in years, where-as the UK site had an update about 4-5 years ago.
The ones in NI (and presumably uk wide) all closed and now they are a sort of kiosk inside sainsburys supermarkets. That happened a while ago
Think the last time I actually bought anything in Argos must have been about 5 years ago
Damn, how are folks supposed to claim something on warranty then?
I made the mistake of buying something from Argos once, and it was such an ordeal that I never tried again.
Do you think they’ll have a clearance sale?
Might pop in for a Souvenir Pen 🖊️
arloss
I recall trying to use them as an alternative to Amazon during the Pandemic. The experience was so awful I just gave up on them. Asked for a SSD to click and collect. The text messages announcing arrival never came and the girl in the store had no sympathy. She confirmed the SSD was behind the counter with my name associated with it but refused to sell it to me because I hadn’t picked it up within the week (this was at the 8/9 day mark). She told me to reorder and try again.
I found it absolutely absurd.
Poor management, competitor that has 100x the value, shitty service, it was always dying and it deserved to die. The only problem though is it does put more strength in the hands of Currys and Harvey Norman both of which aren’t great services either. We really need a little more competition in the market but it’s a really hard market to serve even if there is money here.
It’s a shame cause the one advantage Argos did have over Amazon was that you could walk in and have something day of or at least next day. That two day wait with Amazon means I never really go for it on more minor purchases.
Will be missed in a lot of communities. The trip in to store with the kids to pick out a Saturday toy whilst getting yourself a random tech gadget or fitness accessorie . You can’t replicate in store experiences. Say you hate it but youl miss it when it’s gone.
They never should have stopped the catalogue, it was good for the novelty but Amazon is faster and cheaper so 🤷 that’s capitalism.
Sainsbury’s acquired Argos as they could see the value in the business behind the high street stores. They never cared about the high street and the Irish stores in particular would have been viewed as an asset to be stripped in order to fund other investments.
Argos have a well established supply chain and a network of warehouses in the UK and that’s where the value is. They have been slowly gravitating towards an Amazon style business model, focusing more on online sales and home delivery in recent years, steadily closing all but the most profitable of stores which are more akin to a fulfilment centre now than a shop. Amazon have them beaten in Ireland and they are sacrificing the Irish side of the business to compete for what’s left of the market in the UK and you can be sure they care very little for anyone losing their job.
there website looks straight from 1999 no wonder theyre going out of business
25 comments
Very disappointing but not a surprise, they’ve been closing some stores already over the last couple of years. Used to be three Argos in Limerick, now it’s down to one.
Their closing down sale should be interesting.
Everything that *no-one* wanted to buy, even from Argos.
Amazon was burying them, Brexit put the last nail in the coffin for their Irish stores, their website was a mess and never updated (in contrast to the UK one), this isn’t a surprise really…
Been said around Sligo for months that the store here was closing in the summer. Guess it was true.
Rarely used it, but they did save me a few times over the years when they had something in stock that I needed the same day. Occasionally you’d get some decent sales on PS4 games there as well.
It was great pre amazon. Used to love looking at the catalogue as a child for all the toys I was never going to get
If Amazon bought them or they did some warehousing deal they could be really good.
Not surprising. I don’t think the Irish website has been updated since it launched in the 00s. Was handy for things sold out of stock everywhere as people seemed to forget it existed and you could pop over to one and collect it then and there.
Once Prime opened up here, that was the end of Argos for me. There’d be Christmas times when I was nearly on first name basis with Argos staff but I’ve not stepped foot in one for years now.
With Prime available now, it’s just far easier, and often far cheaper, to get Amazon to ship stuff out :/
Can’t remember the last time I shopped in argos, the website I felt was never great. Best of luck to the staff, hopefully they find jobs soon.
They haven’t given much of a shit about their Irish outlets anyway, just updating the irish online site would of (have, fucking bot)made them alot of money over the years but zero fucks or incompetent.
Very sad news, but the writing’s been on the wall for a few years now. It’s a wonder they were doing any business at all compared to other places, their prices for electronics were often much higher, and even double the price on their UK site.
Ever since Sainsbury took over them a few years ago, they seem to have forgotten about Irish shops entirely. They haven’t even updated their IE website in years, where-as the UK site had an update about 4-5 years ago.
The ones in NI (and presumably uk wide) all closed and now they are a sort of kiosk inside sainsburys supermarkets. That happened a while ago
Think the last time I actually bought anything in Argos must have been about 5 years ago
Damn, how are folks supposed to claim something on warranty then?
I made the mistake of buying something from Argos once, and it was such an ordeal that I never tried again.
Do you think they’ll have a clearance sale?
Might pop in for a Souvenir Pen 🖊️
arloss
I recall trying to use them as an alternative to Amazon during the Pandemic. The experience was so awful I just gave up on them. Asked for a SSD to click and collect. The text messages announcing arrival never came and the girl in the store had no sympathy. She confirmed the SSD was behind the counter with my name associated with it but refused to sell it to me because I hadn’t picked it up within the week (this was at the 8/9 day mark). She told me to reorder and try again.
I found it absolutely absurd.
Poor management, competitor that has 100x the value, shitty service, it was always dying and it deserved to die. The only problem though is it does put more strength in the hands of Currys and Harvey Norman both of which aren’t great services either. We really need a little more competition in the market but it’s a really hard market to serve even if there is money here.
It’s a shame cause the one advantage Argos did have over Amazon was that you could walk in and have something day of or at least next day. That two day wait with Amazon means I never really go for it on more minor purchases.
Will be missed in a lot of communities. The trip in to store with the kids to pick out a Saturday toy whilst getting yourself a random tech gadget or fitness accessorie . You can’t replicate in store experiences. Say you hate it but youl miss it when it’s gone.
They never should have stopped the catalogue, it was good for the novelty but Amazon is faster and cheaper so 🤷 that’s capitalism.
Sainsbury’s acquired Argos as they could see the value in the business behind the high street stores. They never cared about the high street and the Irish stores in particular would have been viewed as an asset to be stripped in order to fund other investments.
Argos have a well established supply chain and a network of warehouses in the UK and that’s where the value is. They have been slowly gravitating towards an Amazon style business model, focusing more on online sales and home delivery in recent years, steadily closing all but the most profitable of stores which are more akin to a fulfilment centre now than a shop. Amazon have them beaten in Ireland and they are sacrificing the Irish side of the business to compete for what’s left of the market in the UK and you can be sure they care very little for anyone losing their job.
there website looks straight from 1999 no wonder theyre going out of business