Home Retail chief snubs calls for shop closures
HOME Retail Group bosss Terry Duddy is rejecting City pressure to cut back on stores as sales at its Argos outlets struggle.
He said he will not be closing stores following a market research report into the company’s performance, claiming the wider economy was to blame rather than his strategy for the company.
“There were no eurekas. It was a full and hard check.
“It was a hard reflection of where we were and it tells us that we believe that actually our strategy’s right.
“And we know that that isn’t necessarily what everybody wants to hear, because at this level of performance people are expecting a sort of transformation.”
Sales at Argos fell nearly ten per cent in the first quarter and by nearly nine per cent in the second.
Some analysts think he should cut back the 754 stores, but Duddy rejects this option since the company is not losing market share.