High Street chain collapse sweepstake

all new Phil · Thu 20 Aug, 2020 21.12

The Argos in Sheffield city centre remains closed, however I’ve seen that you can do a click and collect at a nearby Sainsburys Local. Is that a recent thing?

woah · Thu 20 Aug, 2020 22.07

all new Phil wrote: Thu 20 Aug, 2020 21.12 The Argos in Sheffield city centre remains closed, however I’ve seen that you can do a click and collect at a nearby Sainsburys Local. Is that a recent thing?

There is a concession in the one on The Moor now - perhaps that's why Angel Street is still closed. I think the ability to collect from Sainsbury's Local stores has been a thing for a while.

In Meadowhall they closed the ground floor of House of Fraser early in the year for transformation into "Fraser's", I think Mike Ashley's idea of a new high end department store to replace HoF. It was due to open in the winter, but in the last couple of weeks it's been changed to Flannels (odd as there is already open nearby in Meadowhall) and is now due to open in Summer 2021. Presumably a scaling back of some ambitious plans after the impact COVID.

tightrope78 · Fri 21 Aug, 2020 22.09

Coronavirus forces STA Travel out of business

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53868447

JAS84 · Sat 22 Aug, 2020 13.56

cwathen wrote: Thu 20 Aug, 2020 11.14 Is Argos done for as a standalone operation I wonder? Obviously following the Sainsbury's acquisition rationalisation of the store estate was inevitable (and indeed well underway, with a number of high street locations being closed and 'moved' to a Sainsbury's several miles away) but their actions during the lockdown and indeed now are notable for how much further down the road of turning Argos into a brand within Sainsbury's they seem to be.

They could have kept standalone units open as an essential retailer, instead they closed the entire estate and operated only from within Sainsbury's. But even now, over 2 months after general retail reopened they still seem to have the bulk of their store estate shut (with those stores that have reopened being heavily skewed towards out of town retail parks). It was claimed that they would open a standalone store where there wasn't a Sainsbury's concession nearby but there are numerous cases where this hasn't happened either.

I am beginning to believe that the bulk of these still-closed Argos stores will never reopen and apart from a very small estate of out of town locations, Argos is essentially finished as a standalone store format.

The fact the catalogue has been scrapped isn't a good sign either. Seems like click and collect is the future of the business. Instead of picking up a catalogue or reading one of the laminated ones in store, you just go online, order, and collect from Sainsbury's.

Martin Phillp · Sun 23 Aug, 2020 00.42

I can't see the Peckham Argos reopening when there's two concessions in Sainsbury's which are a short distance away.

I've actually preferred the lockdown format of click & collect by ordering at home. No queues, straight in and out within 5 mins, without other customers queuing up for refunds or returns.

Pete · Sun 23 Aug, 2020 10.42

I was told the Dundee city centre Argos (the one in the Overgate centre, after they closed the second one in the Wellgate) will reopen on 7 September. Only the one at Sainsburys (at the far end of the city) has been open since lockdown.

gottago · Thu 27 Aug, 2020 18.21

More Pret job cuts. That purchase of Eat has to be one of the most unfortunately timed sales in history.

https://news.sky.com/story/pret-a-mange ... s-12057912

GeekyJames · Thu 27 Aug, 2020 19.08

Now Wahaca, 10 restaurants closing including my local in Southampton that only opened 3 years ago

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus- ... c-12057199

Martin Phillp · Sat 12 Sep, 2020 15.48

Martin Phillp wrote: Sun 23 Aug, 2020 00.42 I can't see the Peckham Argos reopening when there's two concessions in Sainsbury's which are a short distance away.

It finally reopened this week after being closed since March.

Martin Phillp · Wed 16 Sep, 2020 17.56

Waitrose are closing four stores, with the fifth in Wolverhampton being sold to Tesco with staff moving across.

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/wai ... 1600265229

WillPS · Thu 17 Sep, 2020 09.08

Martin Phillp wrote: Wed 16 Sep, 2020 17.56 Waitrose are closing four stores, with the fifth in Wolverhampton being sold to Tesco with staff moving across.

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/wai ... 1600265229

I think the most interesting thing to note there is that Tesco will be opening a new supermarket branch... that's been a pretty rare occurrence in the last 5 years!