The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Philip Cobbold
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Martin Phillp wrote: Thu 26 Jul, 2018 18.56 I'd assume these Sainsbury's Argos concessions share storage space with the food store which would otherwise be not used?
Pretty much all their storage space is in the concession unit itself. There's the odd bit of overflow in Sainsbury's warehouse, but the majority is kept in their own space. The reason being there's a very short time that's allowed for an item to be picked and handed to the customer, I think it's meant to be about 30 seconds. If stock was in the main warehouse some distance away, this picking time couldn't be achieved.
DJDave
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Apparently we might be getting Argos appearing in Asda after this merge.
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WillPS
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cwathen wrote: Thu 26 Jul, 2018 17.29
MarkAshley wrote:So this weekend my high street branch of Argos closes and moves into a concession within Sainsbury's 300 yards away. I genuinely never saw this happening especially as there isn't sufficient room inside the branch for Sainsbury's, let alone Argos as well.
Generally, I have been impressed with how well the Argos concessions work. They do seem relatively well stocked and service is fast, putting to shame many stand alone Argos stores, and I welcomed it expanding Argos to places that didn't have one.

Whilst it was inevitable that there would be some rationalisation of the store estate, I envisaged this more along the lines of where you've got retail parks with both an Argos and a Sainsburys on them then they might well close the Argos down. But it is clear that they are going far beyond that, and very quickly.

Next month, they are shutting a high street store in Bristol which has been there for at least 30 years and 'moving it' to a concession at an out of town Sainsbury's almost 2 miles away. If a distance within a couple of miles is deemed reasonable to relocate, I can think of numerous town centres which could potentially lose their Argos the same way, causing yet more gaps on the high street.

And whilst atm Argos seems to be working out well as a good acquisition, I can easily see a situation arising where in 5 years time they are starting to feel a bit top heavy after their Asda merger and they decide to 'refocus on [their] core retail offering' by selling off Argos, you have to wonder how much of a store estate of standalone Argos stores might be left to sell off by then.

One trick I do think they've missed is not introducing a sort of Sainsbury's concession inside out of town Argos stores (obviously except where there is a Sainsbury's on the same site). Nothing very big, no alcohol licence, no cigarettes, just a chiller unit with snack food, maybe also a small selection of newspapers and magazines, and a couple of self scans to purchase at. It would only need one person to look after all of it. When on most of out of town retail parks there is no food offering beyond maybe a Cafe in a DIY store and a greasy spoon trailer, I could see this working really well (not least of which it becoming popular with people working on the site).
I presume there is another Argos in Bristol city centre? As far as I know the strategy is to leave at least 1 full range Argos in every city centre. Nottingham lost its vintage Broadmarsh store earlier this year, it moved a mile out of town. Still got the big one everyone used.

I agree it would be very strange to leave a city the size of Bristol without a branch.

All of the Argos stores I know of on retail parks are literally right next door to a Boots, and in each case Boots only do their smallish (1 or 2 chiller) range of sandwiches and drinks. Probably not quite the gold mine you think it would be.
MarkAshley wrote: Thu 26 Jul, 2018 18.13
cwathen wrote: Thu 26 Jul, 2018 17.29One trick I do think they've missed is not introducing a sort of Sainsbury's concession inside out of town Argos stores (obviously except where there is a Sainsbury's on the same site). Nothing very big, no alcohol licence, no cigarettes, just a chiller unit with snack food, maybe also a small selection of newspapers and magazines, and a couple of self scans to purchase at. It would only need one person to look after all of it. When on most of out of town retail parks there is no food offering beyond maybe a Cafe in a DIY store and a greasy spoon trailer, I could see this working really well (not least of which it becoming popular with people working on the site).
That's an interesting thought - no reason why a Sainsbury's Local couldn't fit into a lot of former Argos Superstore/Extra branches; in fact I can think of many out-of-town/retail park Argos where this would work with very little upheaval. The infrastructure and logistics for stocking Locals is so well managed now, this really would be a very good proposition. No reason either to restrict the range too much - you'd have a cash desk anyway so why not have a fag drawer behind it. And providing drinks and snacks in big retail parks would be a fantastic option for many shoppers.

But my concern is reflected further up in your post of what happens when the (inevitable) break up of the merger happens - are we to have a Homebase style exodus, and then a return to the High Street? Such a move could hurt the customer base quite considerably.
Planning/usage restrictions would stop a full blown Sainsbury's Local appearing in most of them.

I don't think the break up is as inevitable as you think it is. This isn't an Asda/Allied Carpets type situation; this is Sainsbury's answer to Amazon's imminent big move in to their territory. Tight integration is what they've based their sums on - there is no going back!
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Martin Phillp
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I still think the Argos/Sainsbury's tie-up is a good move. Distribution should be much improved if produce and Argos goods share some delivery channels. Clearly moving into existing Sainsbury's sites saves money and brings extra custom into the supermarkets.

One of the bonuses has been my local standard supermarket now has Argos Click and Collect with a terminal by the kiosk, while there's a concession at a nearby superstore, which I haven't visited.

The superstore I use still has no Argos click and collect or a concession, but has one of those sushi counters, assuming they're going for the affluent demographic who shops there.
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m-in-m
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Has anyone seen an Argos in a Sainsbury’s with Quick Pay machines? Our local store before it moved from the High Street to Sainsbury’s had Quick Pay machines but now it’s in Sainsbury’s these no longer exist.

Also do these stores have their own cash office facilities or are they using Sainsbury’s?
james2001
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WillPS wrote: Thu 26 Jul, 2018 21.20Nottingham lost its vintage Broadmarsh store earlier this year, it moved a mile out of town. Still got the big one everyone used.
And that atrium area of the broadmarsh is very shitty to walk through now. The Argos, BHS and former Co-op/Allders/TX Maxx are closed and boarded up, and the old cafe that used to be in the middle of it is also long gone, there were a load of deckchairs dumped there last time I looked. All that's left in that bit now is a branch of Boots. And even the rest of the centre's going to ruin, with most of the first floor closed off as well. It's effectively been abandoned, with endless promises of a major refurbishment for the last 20-odd years that's never happened.

The fact it's what you usually walk through when going to the city centre from the train station makes it even worse.
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Pete
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james2001 wrote: Sun 29 Jul, 2018 23.14
WillPS wrote: Thu 26 Jul, 2018 21.20Nottingham lost its vintage Broadmarsh store earlier this year, it moved a mile out of town. Still got the big one everyone used.
And that atrium area of the broadmarsh is very shitty to walk through now. The Argos, BHS and former Co-op/Allders/TX Maxx are closed and boarded up, and the old cafe that used to be in the middle of it is also long gone, there were a load of deckchairs dumped there last time I looked. All that's left in that bit now is a branch of Boots. And even the rest of the centre's going to ruin, with most of the first floor closed off as well. It's effectively been abandoned, with endless promises of a major refurbishment for the last 20-odd years that's never happened.

The fact it's what you usually walk through when going to the city centre from the train station makes it even worse.
A similar situation has occurred in Aberdeen with the shiny and pleasant Union Square stealing all the good shops, Bon Acord having a revamp and nabbing Waterstones off Union Street itself, therefore leaving the Trinity Centre abandoned in the middle of the two with the grotty side streets off Union Street becoming even more awful.
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cwathen
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james2001 wrote:The fact it's what you usually walk through when going to the city centre from the train station makes it even worse.
I first saw that vintage Argos about 5 years ago on my first trip to Nottingham. And I did stumble upon it walking to the city centre from the train station. An abandoned Broadmarsh centre isn't the best first impression to make with visitors to your fair city!
WillPS wrote:I presume there is another Argos in Bristol city centre? As far as I know the strategy is to leave at least 1 full range Argos in every city centre. Nottingham lost its vintage Broadmarsh store earlier this year, it moved a mile out of town. Still got the big one everyone used.

I agree it would be very strange to leave a city the size of Bristol without a branch.
There is another branch, the store at The Galleries is staying. My concern though is not so much with Bristol - as per your post if the strategy is to keep 1 Argos in each city centre then there is no risk of it disappearing completely from the high street in Bristol.

My concern is more that they are considering replacing a high street store with a concession 2 miles away to be simply moving the store as if it's shifting over to the next street, and what ramifications that sort of thinking will have on smaller town centres. Off the top of my head I can think of many examples where there is a high street Argos and a Sainsburys just out of town. Will they in time decide to rationalise away most branches to concessions in Sainsbury's and be left with a tiny store estate of standalone branches consisting only of major city centre locations and a small number of town branches where the Argos store is profitable enough to want to keep a presence in the town but there is no nearby Sainsbury's to move it to?
WillPS wrote:I don't think the break up is as inevitable as you think it is. This isn't an Asda/Allied Carpets type situation; this is Sainsbury's answer to Amazon's imminent big move in to their territory. Tight integration is what they've based their sums on - there is no going back!
I certainly wouldn't say it's inevitable, but you never know how their priorities may change over the years as the the marketplace changes and the leadership and vision changes.
cyberdude
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m-in-m wrote: Sun 29 Jul, 2018 08.19 Has anyone seen an Argos in a Sainsbury’s with Quick Pay machines? Our local store before it moved from the High Street to Sainsbury’s had Quick Pay machines but now it’s in Sainsbury’s these no longer exist.

Also do these stores have their own cash office facilities or are they using Sainsbury’s?
Chippenham's didn't have the quick pay machines.

Something else I noticed was pricing discrepancies compared to the website and main stores.One item I saw was £9.99 (down from £14.99) in the concession, compared to £39.99 in main stores and on the website.
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WillPS
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Pete wrote: Mon 30 Jul, 2018 07.53
james2001 wrote: Sun 29 Jul, 2018 23.14
WillPS wrote: Thu 26 Jul, 2018 21.20Nottingham lost its vintage Broadmarsh store earlier this year, it moved a mile out of town. Still got the big one everyone used.
And that atrium area of the broadmarsh is very shitty to walk through now. The Argos, BHS and former Co-op/Allders/TX Maxx are closed and boarded up, and the old cafe that used to be in the middle of it is also long gone, there were a load of deckchairs dumped there last time I looked. All that's left in that bit now is a branch of Boots. And even the rest of the centre's going to ruin, with most of the first floor closed off as well. It's effectively been abandoned, with endless promises of a major refurbishment for the last 20-odd years that's never happened.

The fact it's what you usually walk through when going to the city centre from the train station makes it even worse.
A similar situation has occurred in Aberdeen with the shiny and pleasant Union Square stealing all the good shops, Bon Acord having a revamp and nabbing Waterstones off Union Street itself, therefore leaving the Trinity Centre abandoned in the middle of the two with the grotty side streets off Union Street becoming even more awful.
Except we don't have a shiny and pleasant centre in Nottingham. The Victoria Centre has far more fundamental architectural issues both internally and externally - not least the fact it has massive pillars and a low ceiling which nothing can be done about because there's a high rise block of flats on top. Despite this, Intu have slapped lipstick on their beaten brutalist pig because it looks better on their bottom line than doing something similar to Broadmarsh (VC is wholly owned, Broadmarsh is leased off the council).

Intu (CSC back then) bought Broadmarsh at the point Westfield had evicted a load of long term tenants and were days away from commencing demolition in order to protect their asset, and are quite happy to leave Broadmarsh to rot. Nottingham therefore has a partially cladded 60s inward-looking nightmare physically limiting the city at one end, and a serviceable but decrepit and dead 70s centre welcoming visitors at the other.

A wonderful example of capitalism gone very wrong, and the council failing to take corrective action.
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Andrew
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I think you are being a tad unfair to the Victoria Centre

It looks much nicer from the front https://goo.gl/maps/ph1r9LXzJUt

or the side https://goo.gl/maps/CHyn322oxt62

rather than the back
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