A CITY centre Argos store has served its last customer with owners confirming it has shut for good.

The site in Western Road, Brighton, was ordered to close under the coronavirus lockdown rules introduced in March and, despite measures since being eased, it has not reopened since.

"Any standalone Argos store which has not reopened since March will remain closed permanently," a spokeswoman for Argos owners Sainsbury's told The Argus.

The Argus:

A total of 120 standalone Argos stores in the UK have not been open since March, and so all of these sites will now remain closed for good.

The spokeswoman said that many of the staff who had been working at these sites had been "redeployed" to other Argos and Sainsbury's stores.

There are plans to shut a further 300 Argos stores - on top of those which have been closed since March - by March 2024 leaving just 100 standalone stores remaining in the UK.

But Sainsbury's has announced plans to open 350 new Argos stores and collection points within its supermarkets.

In a statement, Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of J Sainsbury plc said: "Argos sales have been strong over the past six months and we have gained almost two million new customers as people have re-connected with Argos.

"Over the next three years we will make Argos a simpler, more efficient and more profitable business while still offering customers great convenience and value and improving availability.

"We are talking to colleagues about where the changes we are announcing in Argos standalone stores...impact their roles.

The Argus: The Argos store in Western Road, Brighton, is closed for goodThe Argos store in Western Road, Brighton, is closed for good

"We will work really hard to find alternative roles for as many of these colleagues as possible and expect to be able to offer alternative roles for the majority of impacted colleagues.  

"Given the unprecedented circumstances of this year and the challenges facing our colleagues, including the changes we are announcing today, I have informed the board that if a bonus is payable, I will waive any bonus entitlement for this financial year."