Sainsbury’s wants more Argos outlets

SAINSBURY’S will more than double the number of Argos outlets in its stores by Christmas.

The supermarket also plans to introduce home furnishings retailer Habitat into its stores for the first time. Sainsbury’s said the move, which follows the grocery giant’s £1.4bn takeover of Argos and Habitat owner Home Retail Group, which completed last week, will give customers access to more than 90,000 products under one roof.

Sainsbury’s will increase Argos concessions from 13 to 30 and open five Mini Habitat stores within its supermarkets over the coming months.

Boss Mike Coupe said: ‘This is the start of an exciting new phase for Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habitat.

‘Being able to shop across all three brands under one roof will make our customers’ lives even more convenient and offer them incredible choice.’

The takeover of Home Retail aims to give the supermarket group greater fire power to take on the likes of Amazon, with Sainsbury’s last week also announcing the launch of a women’s clothing collection called Tu Premium.

The combination of Sainsbury’s and Argos will create one of the biggest non-food retailers in the UK, with more than 2,000 stores and 195,000 staff.