Sainsbury's issues update after confirming plans to shut up to 20 Argos stores

Sainsbury's is closing more standalone Argos stores

Sainsbury's has issued its latest financial update today after confirming plans to close up to 20 more standalone Argos stores.

The supermarket chain, which acquired Argos in 2016, confirmed sales at the catalogue retailer fell 6.2% in the 16 weeks to June 22 due to weaker demand for consumer electronics and gaming products. It comes after Sainsbury’s announced plans to shut between 15 and 20 standalone Argos stores when it published its annual report earlier this year - but it will increase the number of Argos stores within Sainsbury's supermarkets.

It said at the time: "In total, for 2024/25, we expect to open three supermarkets and around 25 new convenience stores, with four supermarkets and three to five convenience stores to close. In addition, we expect to open around ten Argos stores inside Sainsbury’s and close around 15-20 Argos stand-alone stores."

Sainsbury's has reduced the number of standalone Argos stores from 385 to 213 since March 2023, but the number of Argos stores within Sainsbury's supermarkets has increased from 424 to 426. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s reported a 3% rise in like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, while grocery sales were up 4.8% - however, although this growth was slower compared to recent years as food inflation has fallen.

Sainsbury’s also revealed that total general merchandise sales fell 4.3% due largely to a blow from unseasonal early summer weather. The group said it was sticking to its guidance for underlying retail operating profits of between £1.01billion and £1.06billion for the full year, which would be growth of 5% to 10%.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “We are pleased with our market-beating grocery performance. We’ve been winning from competitors every month for 15 months, as more and more people are choosing Sainsbury’s for their big weekly shop. We are laser focused on delivering the best combination of value and quality in the market and our customers are recognising that with 98% of big baskets including Nectar Prices or Aldi Price Match.”