Home Retail throws Argos ball to US retail veteran

US industry veteran John Walden has been given the tough task of turning around the fortunes of Argos, the struggling retail brand owned by Home Retail Group.

Confirming news that was leaked to the newspapers on Tuesday night, Home Retail said Walden will take up his new role by the end of February.

Walden first came to prominence in the mid-nineties as Chief Operating Officer of Peapod, a pioneer of online supermarket retailing. From 1999 to 2007 he was a member of the executive committee of US consumer electronics retailer Best Buy, and subsequently he was Executive Vice President of US department store chain Sears.

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Whether any of that experience will prepare him for the task of pulling Argos out of its tail-spin is unknown; the chain, which has an unusual catalogue/bricks-and-mortar business model, has been struggling to cope with the supermarket giants muscling in on its territory.

The crucial like-for-like (LFL) sales figure for Argos was down a worrying 8.8% in the 18 weeks to the end of December. Over the last 44 weeks like-for-like sales have fallen 8.9%. The company attributed the sales fall to the market decline in consumer electronics.

Argos is by far the bigger part of the Home Retail Group empire, which also includes the DIY chain Homebase. It generates more than 70% of group turnover and is far more profitable than Homebase, but margins are being squeezed as consumer confidence sags and online rivals attempt to lure customers away with heavily promoted discounts.

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