Argos in Harrow Town Centre is to close its doors for the final time on May 22 as the high street chain moves further towards a complete Sainsbury’s partnership.
The store has been part of Harrow Town Centre for over 30 years and will be missed by many shoppers in the borough.
Late last year Sainsbury’s, which owns the high street chain Argos, said that any sArgos store which has not reopened since March will remain closed permanently.
Despite the stores closing, Argos has had some considerable growth during the pandemic.
Chief executive Simon Roberts said: “This year’s financial results have been heavily influenced by the pandemic. Food and Argos sales are significantly higher, but the cost of keeping colleagues and customers safe during the pandemic has been high. Our full-year direct Covid-19 costs were £485m, leading to a -39% decrease in full-year underlying profit.
“We have accelerated our digital transformation this year as we focus on serving customers however they want to shop with us. Argos digital sales grew almost +70% and our Argos transformation plan is on track to improve customer availability while reducing our costs.
“Like our customers, we are all looking forward to things feeling more normal over the coming months and getting excited about a summer of celebration, but we are also cautious about the economic outlook.”
Although the Harrow branch was not one of these 420 branches, the decision has now been made to close.
Louise Baxter, Harrow BID Manager said: “Whilst we are sorry to see it go we are aware that Sainsbury’s has ongoing strategy with Argos. We look forward to a new and exciting letting in the town centre in the near future. Our thoughts are with the staff at this time.”
