World Leaks

AN iconic high street brand with more than 1,000 UK locations is set to shut a popular branch in a major blow to a town’s trade.

Argos will be closing its large store in Plymouth city centre this month, delivering another hit to the already struggling high street.

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Argos will be closing down its Plymouth store[/caption]

Alamy

It will be a major blow to the city’s already struggling high street[/caption]

The standalone store in the former Derrys building on Royal Parade will close on the evening of October 17.

But a new Argos “store-in-store” will open the next day inside the nearby Sainsbury’s superstore at the Armada Centre.

Sainsbury’s, which acquired Argos in a £1.4 billion deal in 2016, has not yet commented on possible job losses, but reports suggest that up to 30 staff could face redundancy as part of the closure.

This is part of a broader trend, with Sainsbury’s gradually shutting standalone Argos outlets and relocating them inside its supermarkets.

Plymouth previously saw its New George Street Argos store close in 2016, with the Marsh Mills Sainsbury’s superstore hosting a replacement outlet.

With Argos sales falling, Sainsbury’s also discontinued Argos’ iconic printed catalogue in 2020 and has committed to closing 420 standalone stores by March 2024.

Since March 2023, 72 outlets have already shut, with 213 remaining.

Despite lower consumer demand for electronics and games, Sainsbury’s continues to expand its “store-in-store” Argos model, planning to close an additional 20 standalone stores this financial year while opening around 10 new in-supermarket branches.

Plymouth will retain another Argos store at Transit Way.

Argos, founded in 1972, became a high street staple with its catalogue-based model, and today operates around 1,230 outlets across the UK, including those inside Sainsbury’s.

While sales grew 1.7% to £4.23 billion in the year to March 2024, pre-tax profits dropped 15.3% to £277 million.

Argos has closed dozens of stores over the last two years.

The high street retailer has already closed 42 UK shops, including all 34 of its branches in the Republic of Ireland last June.

In July, Sainsbury’s issued a major update on plans to close more Argos stores.

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BIG Brother’s first ‘secret mission’ has been revealed – just hours before the new series kicks off.

The reality house will throw open its doors to a new batch of housemates on Sunday night.

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Big Brother’s first ‘secret mission’ has been revealed[/caption]

ITV

The reality house throws open its doors to a brand new batch of housemates on Sunday[/caption]

ITV

The Sun can reveal a gigantic bed fit for a King and Queen has been installed in the abode[/caption]

AJ Odudu and Will Best return to their hosting duties after telling The Sun they have no plans to evict themselves.

But as pictures of the brand new Big Brother compound were revealed on Friday, we can reveal bosses have a secret twist already lined up.

The bedroom could play a big part in one of the task’s from this year’s series – with a massive bed having been delivered fit for royalty.

A show insider told The Sun: “In this year’s abode bosses have installed a special bed that will be reserved for the King and Queen of the house.

“There are spots for 16 housemates this year, but whoever ends up bagging a spot in the gigantic bed will receive special treatment.”

Producers working on the show are keeping tight-lipped but the mole added that it may form part of a wider task during the new series.

The Big Brother house was previously based at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood before being demolished in 2018.

Since its reboot the show has been based in West London at Garden Studios.

Speaking to The Sun, Will Best previously shared his excitement about this year’s tasks, saying bosses have “raised the bar”.

He said: “I’m excited about the tasks, I think the tasks this year, maybe some learning not learning as that makes it sound like there were things that could have been better as the tasks were phenomenal last series.

“But I’ve been speaking to a few members of the team and I think they’ve raised the bar even further this series,” and added that the tasks have been “taken up a notch.”

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