Argos CEO orders business review
The new chief executive of the Argos catalogue chain is to conduct a major review of the business fuelling speculation that the retailer will close some of its stores.
John Walden, who joined Argos in February, has appointed OC&C Strategy Consultants to assist with the review which will look at all areas of the business and could result in a substantial reduction in the retailer’s store portfolio.
Home Retail Group, Argos’s parent company, is due to announce its full-year results tomorrow but is not expected to reveal information on the review which is expected to result in a root and branch overhaul.
It is understood that the exercise will take several weeks to complete and will assess the profitability of individual stores and consider if their sales can be transferred to nearby stores or online.
Argos has struggled during the last year as consumer demand for big-ticket items such as furniture and white goods remains subdued. Like-for-like sales at Argos fell 8.5% in the 8 weeks to 25 February as the company struggled in the face of competition from online retailers such as Amazon.
