Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

Hadders · 1 Aug 2026

Argos would probably have gone bust during Covid had it not have been able to rely on Sainsbury's as a way of continuing to trade via click and collect.

Sainbury's removed massive cost from Argos by:

Closing many standalone stores with a saving on rent and occupancy costs and staffing costs
Closing Argos Head Office in Milton Keynes and merging functions with Sainsbury's (will need to be unpicked over the next few years...)
Rationalising supply chain. There was still more work to do in this area but lots of the low hanging fruit had been picked (and the writing was on the wall a couple of years ago when many integration projects were 'paused')

Going forwards Sainsbury's will get rent from Argos for the store in stores and ther ewill be commercial agreements, at least in the short to medium term, for many shared functions.

City analysts always seemed to give Sainsbury's a hard time over Argos and its impact on the overall performance of the business so it will be interesting to see how things go now. I do hope Argos survives but I also wonder whether it will become another Lloyds Pharmacy (Sainsbury's used to operate in-store pharmacies themselves but sold them in 2016 to Lloyds Pharmacy. By 2023 Lloyds pulled out of them all)

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Djgr · 1 Aug 2026

Hadders said:
Argos would probably have gone bust during Covid had it not have been able to rely on Sainsbury's as a way of continuing to trade via click and collect.

Sainbury's removed massive cost from Argos by:

Closing many standalone stores with a saving on rent and occupancy costs and staffing costs
Closing Argos Head Office in Milton Keynes and merging functions with Sainsbury's (will need to be unpicked over the next few years...)
Rationalising supply chain. There was still more work to do in this area but lots of the low hanging fruit had been picked (and the writing was on the wall a couple of years ago when many integration projects were 'paused')

Going forwards Sainsbury's will get rent from Argos for the store in stores and ther ewill be commercial agreements, at least in the short to medium term, for many shared functions.

City analysts always seemed to give Sainsbury's a hard time over Argos and its impact on the overall performance of the business so it will be interesting to see how things go now. I do hope Argos survives but I also wonder whether it will become another Lloyds Pharmacy (Sainsbury's used to operate in-store pharmacies themselves but sold them in 2016 to Lloyds Pharmacy. By 2023 Lloyds pulled out of them all)

But of course for the sake of the Argos rent Sainsbury's are sacrificing sales space in their stores.

Hadders · 1 Aug 2026

Djgr said:
But of course for the sake of the Argos rent Sainsbury's are sacrificing sales space in their stores.

Trust me, that generally wasn't an issue.

In many cases it allowed Sainbury's to rationalise their GM ranges - for example Sainsbury's used to sell TVs in their largest stores that took up a large amount of space - a pain in the backside operationally too. Turning that space over to Argos store in stores was a good thing.

The exile · 1 Aug 2026

Hadders said:
Trust me, that generally wasn't an issue.

In many cases it allowed Sainbury's to rationalise their GM ranges - for example Sainsbury's used to sell TVs in their largest stores that took up a large amount of space - a pain in the backside operationally too. Turning that space over to Argos store in stores was a good thing.

I suspect my local store is not the only one where Argos took over the cafe space.

Kite159 · 1 Aug 2026

The exile said:
I suspect my local store is not the only one where Argos took over the cafe space.

Depends if the cafe element was making the store money, or if they make more money from having Argos based in there.

skyhigh · 1 Aug 2026

Kite159 said:
Depends if the cafe element was making the store money, or if they make more money from having Argos based in there.

Sainsbury's closed all their cafes, so I suspect that answers that question fairly definitively.

(Yes, some have been let out to Costa etc but a supermarket branded cafe couldn't sell products at Costa prices).

Peter Sarf · 1 Aug 2026

skyhigh said:
Sainsbury's closed all their cafes, so I suspect that answers that question fairly definitively.

(Yes, some have been let out to Costa etc but a supermarket branded cafe couldn't sell products at Costa prices).

I just noticed today that in the Morrisons local to me the closed cafe (it was not open long iirc) is no longer a rest area for staff. All the fittings have gone and been replaced by shelves. So it has become a staging area for the click and collect pickers.

On the subject of Argos. I suppose there is a risk that where Argos pull out of a Sainsburys branch that Sainsburys will have to start stocking the electronic goods they used to stock before Argos moved in. In fact noting to stop Argos switching to another supermarket in some areas or a whole chain Nationally.

Hadders · 1 Aug 2026

Peter Sarf said:
On the subject of Argos. I suppose there is a risk that where Argos pull out of a Sainsburys branch that Sainsburys will have to start stocking the electronic goods they used to stock before Argos moved in. In fact noting to stop Argos switching to another supermarket in some areas or a whole chain Nationally.

I can’t see Sainsbury’s going back to a large GM operation they used to have pre-Argos. Their strategy is ‘food first’ which is showing good results. Even Tesco has stripped out a lot of GM compared to what they stocked years ago.

While you never say never, I expect there’ll be long term commercial agreements covering things like partner exclusivity.

Peter Sarf · 1 Aug 2026

Hadders said:
I can’t see Sainsbury’s going back to a large GM operation they used to have pre-Argos. Their strategy is ‘food first’ which is showing good results. Even Tesco has stripped out a lot of GM compared to what they stocked years ago.

While you never say never, I expect there’ll be long term commercial agreements covering things like partner exclusivity.

Oh OK. I thought it was the supermarkets selling clothes that was hammering the high street clothes stores. So assumed same for electronic goods.

Then again M&S have gone into food selling quite successfully.

MrJeeves · 1 Aug 2026

Hadders said:
Rationalising supply chain. There was still more work to do in this area but lots of the low hanging fruit had been picked (and the writing was on the wall a couple of years ago when many integration projects were 'paused')

I got the impression that this was really part of the problem which made Argos unprofitable for Sainsbury's, and had it not happened then it potentially would have been less of a cost-sink.

I watched this video when it came out and I found it interesting, regardless of how accurate it is!

Hadders · 1 Aug 2026

Peter Sarf said:
Oh OK. I thought it was the supermarkets selling clothes that was hammering the high street clothes stores. So assumed same for electronic goods.

Then again M&S have gone into food selling quite successfully.

Electronics and tech have been harmed by online retail rather than supermarkets.

Clothing is interesting as the supermarkets have taken a large share of the market (eg Sainsbury’s is the 6th largest clothing retailer in the UK by volume), but supermarkets tend to sell everyday essential clothing, not expensive fashion.

Peter Sarf · 1 Aug 2026

Hadders said:
Electronics and tech have been harmed by online retail rather than supermarkets.

Clothing is interesting as the supermarkets have taken a large share of the market (eg Sainsbury’s is the 6th largest clothing retailer in the UK by volume), but supermarkets tend to sell everyday essential clothing, not expensive fashion.

I know and for some reason I never think to look at Sainsburys clothes. That is even despite a friend of mine exposing me to ASDA George.

Hadders · 1 Aug 2026

MrJeeves said:
I got the impression that this was really part of the problem which made Argos unprofitable for Sainsbury's, and had it not happened then it potentially would have been less of a cost-sink.

I watched this video when it came out and I found it interesting, regardless of how accurate it is!

There’s some truth in this but some large inaccuracies.

As for logistics it was never fully integrated. Argos stock was never located in the same depots as Sainsbury’s food, the networks operated separately although there was some integration of Sainsbury’s GM with Argos. What you did have was orders picked in Argos depots destined for Argos store in stores cross-docked via Sainsbury’s depots but that generally worked well.

The reference to Bromley by Bow is totally wrong - it had nothing at all to do with Argos. It was a Sainsbury’s grocery ‘dark store’ that opened in 2015-ish to serve groceries online customers across a large part of London but it was closed in 2019 as Sainsbury’s found it more efficient to pick orders in-store.

skyhigh · 1 Aug 2026

Peter Sarf said:
Then again M&S have gone into food selling quite successfully.

M&S have had food departments since the 1930s.

Russel · 1 Aug 2026

skyhigh said:
M&S have had food departments since the 1930s.

Ah yes, but it's only over the last 10-15 years that their food halls have really gained traction.

Darandio · 1 Aug 2026

Russel said:
Ah yes, but it's only over the last 10-15 years that their food halls have really gained traction.

I'm not sure that's true and is probably a perception based on many high street stores closing and therefore removing clothing from the product line coupled with more store openings dedicated to food, particularly in retail parks. They really gained traction in the 1970's and have been a massive innovator in the sector since then.

Russel · 1 Aug 2026

Darandio said:
I'm not sure that's true and is probably a perception based on many high street stores closing and therefore removing clothing from the product line coupled with more store openings dedicated to food, particularly in retail parks. They really gained traction in the 1970's and have been a massive innovator in the sector since then.

M&S Food has always been perceived as being a more upmarket place for food, it's only a recent thing that they have become more of a mainstream place to go.

dorsetdesiro · 1 Aug 2026

It is disappointing about Argos, it is really useful for avoiding Amazon (due to its peddling of randomly named Chinese junk to wade through).

Sainsburys previously were about to sell Argos to JD/Joybuy (another ghastly Chinese company in the vein of Temu & Shein) but then abandoned the sale.

At least the new owners will be British this time round but due to the fierce retail competition and online convenience not helped by thoughtless people readily buying plastic/polyester junk - because TikTok told them to - that will fall apart in days thus bad for environment due to increase of landfill waste & polluting chemicals etc.

That I feel Argos sadly will inevitably end up in Chinese hands in the future when the Brits have thrown in the towel.

MrJeeves · 2 Aug 2026

I will admit I really appreciated Argos as being a place I could rely on for selling me genuine products like SD cards and USB flash drives, even when Amazon's product dispatched and sold by them ended up being a fake product.

Hopefully they don't become the next B&Q/Tesco Direct/whatever else and let anyone onto their platform, though I appreciate they already have their "Trusted Seller" scheme.

jon81uk · 3 Aug 2026

Hadders said:
As for logistics it was never fully integrated. Argos stock was never located in the same depots as Sainsbury’s food, the networks operated separately although there was some integration of Sainsbury’s GM with Argos. What you did have was orders picked in Argos depots destined for Argos store in stores cross-docked via Sainsbury’s depots but that generally worked well.

I always thought that they could have integrated Sainsbury's & Argos properly, for many own-brand home items they are sat on the shelves in the Sainsbury's store, it would have made sense to combine that stock and allow Argos to utilise what is on the shelves in Sainsbury's.

GusB · 3 Aug 2026

jon81uk said:
I always thought that they could have integrated Sainsbury's & Argos properly, for many own-brand home items they are sat on the shelves in the Sainsbury's store, it would have made sense to combine that stock and allow Argos to utilise what is on the shelves in Sainsbury's.

That would be a nightmare for stock control. For example, I desperately need a new widget so I go to the Argos website and it shows me that there's one left in stock. I place a click-and-collect order, pay for the item then jump in the car and head to Sainsbury's to collect it (a 20 mile journey).

In the meantime, a customer who is doing their grocery shopping in-store has picked that one remaining widget from the shelf and placed it into their trolley. As far as the system is concerned there's still one in stock (it won't be recorded as sold until that customer goes through the checkout), but it's no longer available to be picked by Argos staff and when I arrive I discover that I can no longer pick up the item that I've paid for.

In reality, I'd wait for confirmation that the order was ready to collect but there will be some people who just assume it'll be there when they arrive, so there's obvious potential for conflict.

jon81uk · 3 Aug 2026

GusB said:
That would be a nightmare for stock control. For example, I desperately need a new widget so I go to the Argos website and it shows me that there's one left in stock. I place a click-and-collect order, pay for the item then jump in the car and head to Sainsbury's to collect it (a 20 mile journey).

In the meantime, a customer who is doing their grocery shopping in-store has picked that one remaining widget from the shelf and placed it into their trolley. As far as the system is concerned there's still one in stock (it won't be recorded as sold until that customer goes through the checkout), but it's no longer available to be picked by Argos staff and when I arrive I discover that I can no longer pick up the item that I've paid for.

In reality, I'd wait for confirmation that the order was ready to collect but there will be some people who just assume it'll be there when they arrive, so there's obvious potential for conflict.

But Argos click and collect has always been that way, the item isn't reserved for you until you get confirmation the item isn't ready for collection. If you are going to the store before being told the reservation is ready for you that's not the stores problem. In many smaller Argos stores they currently need to bring the item from a larger store anyway, so bringing it from the Sainsbury's stock wouldn't be any different, just needs the stock systems adjusted so it can work.

The exile · 3 Aug 2026

jon81uk said:
But Argos click and collect has always been that way, the item isn't reserved for you until you get confirmation the item isn't ready for collection. If you are going to the store before being told the reservation is ready for you that's not the stores problem. In many smaller Argos stores they currently need to bring the item from a larger store anyway, so bringing it from the Sainsbury's stock wouldn't be any different, just needs the stock systems adjusted so it can work.

What it does do is introduce a longer period where the last remaining widget is apparently in stock, but not available because it’s in someone’s trolley.

jon81uk · 3 Aug 2026

The exile said:
What it does do is introduce a longer period where the last remaining widget is apparently in stock, but not available because it’s in someone’s trolley.

Yes, although given Argos stores inside Sainsbury's don't have much stock space, there would be many more occasions where they will then have plenty of stock to pick from as Sainsbury's have ten on the shelves and Argos have zero, so opening it up to shared stock would have made sense, even if you stopped orders at a certain point.
Maybe the cost of integration made it too hard, but in my opinion there must have been times when someone browsing Argos website chose not to purchase as Argos stated it would need to be delivered to the smaller store inside a Sainsbury's, but there was stock already at Sainsbury's that the person browsing didn't know they could just go in and buy.

BuhSnarf · 3 Aug 2026

jon81uk said:
I always thought that they could have integrated Sainsbury's & Argos properly, for many own-brand home items they are sat on the shelves in the Sainsbury's store, it would have made sense to combine that stock and allow Argos to utilise what is on the shelves in Sainsbury's.

I believe that this was eventually the end goal but relied on intergrating the inventory systems between both JS and Argos. This was never done.

Hadders · 3 Aug 2026

jon81uk said:
But Argos click and collect has always been that way, the item isn't reserved for you until you get confirmation the item isn't ready for collection. If you are going to the store before being told the reservation is ready for you that's not the stores problem. In many smaller Argos stores they currently need to bring the item from a larger store anyway, so bringing it from the Sainsbury's stock wouldn't be any different, just needs the stock systems adjusted so it can work.

It changed way back.

The ability to reserve a product and pay for it upon collection was removed. You now order and pay online which allocates the item to you. There’s 7 days to collect it and if you don’t collect you’re refunded.

cactustwirly · 3 Aug 2026

In terms of click and collect I had the most baffling experience yesterday

A store has like 10 items of the one I wanted, but was more expensive than online
I expected to click and collect immediately as they'd pick the store stock

However you have to wait 3 to 5 days for them to send the same items from the warehouse for click and collect.
Personally I think this is complete madness

Hadders · 3 Aug 2026

cactustwirly said:
In terms of click and collect I had the most baffling experience yesterday

A store has like 10 items of the one I wanted, but was more expensive than online
I expected to click and collect immediately as they'd pick the store stock

However you have to wait 3 to 5 days for them to send the same items from the warehouse for click and collect.
Personally I think this is complete madness

Who’s the retailer?

Sounds like click and collect is processed in the same way as a home delivery but just delivered to the store for you to collect.

johntea · 3 Aug 2026

I was surprised click and collect is a bit of a manual process at the store having to queue and wait for a member of staff to scan or type in your collection code rather than being able to do it on the terminals dotted around the store even though I seem to remember doing exactly so many years ago! (This was Tottenham Court Road Argos too so certainly one of the more 'flagship' stores) - not sure what it is like at Sainsburys...I do get you would have to be manually processed for age restricted items

On a more positive note once they had scanned the code it was virtually instant them finding the item and handing it over - guessing they pick the items as soon as they're ordered and store them in a specific area

The exile · 4 Aug 2026

johntea said:
I was surprised click and collect is a bit of a manual process at the store having to queue and wait for a member of staff to scan or type in your collection code rather than being able to do it on the terminals dotted around the store even though I seem to remember doing exactly so many years ago! (This was Tottenham Court Road Argos too so certainly one of the more 'flagship' stores) - not sure what it is like at Sainsburys...I do get you would have to be manually processed for age restricted items

On a more positive note once they had scanned the code it was virtually instant them finding the item and handing it over - guessing they pick the items as soon as they're ordered and store them in a specific area

Well - you’re going to have to queue and wait while they go and pick your order anyway and a person standing at a counter is less likely to get overlooked or accidentally deleted!

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