Argos History

Argos was first established by Richard Tompkins the founder of the Green Shield Stamp Empire in the UK. If you remember collecting Green Shield stamps with a purchase allowed you to select a promotional gift from a selection of products in a catalogue instead of offering a discount off the price. Well Richard thought he could expand this concept selling the goods in the same way from a catalogue. The original Green Shield Stamp shops were rebranded with the first store opening its doors in Canterbury in 1973.

Argos was first founded with 1000 employees and found itself an instant success taking up to £1 million pounds in a week running up to Christmas. In 1979 they were purchased by BAT Industries for £32 million, cementing its reputation as a major UK retailer.

Argos Today

Argos is now the first choice retailer for general goods on the high street with almost all households have a catalogue on hand containing all the available products. They sell general products for the home and garden including furniture, toys and electrical goods having over 700 stores throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland. They also operates online from Argos.co.uk and over the telephone. They currently have sales of over £4.3 billion and employ 33000 staff, a large increase from the original 1000 in 1973.