ARGOS STORES ACROSS Ireland will close for the final time this evening, ending the retailer’s 27 years of operation here.

In January, it was announced that the company would close all its stores and cease online activities in Ireland on 24 June.

At the time, Argos had 34 outlets across Ireland and employed 580 people.

A small number of staff were not eligible for redundancy under Irish Law, but Argos made a one-off goodwill payment to these employees.

The company opened its first outlets here – in Dublin and Limerick – in January 1996.

Four stores had already closed in recent months and the remaining 30 stores will close for the final time at 5pm today.

Speaking in January after announcing plans to shut down operations in Ireland, Argos Ireland Operations Manager Andy McClelland said: “We understand this is difficult news for our customers and colleagues.

“As with any major change to our business, we have not made this decision lightly and we are doing everything we can to support those impacted.

“On behalf of everyone at Argos I would like to thank our colleagues, customers, suppliers and partners for their support to our business.”

Accounts released late last year showed that the company’s Irish arm, Argos Distributors (Ireland) Ltd, recorded an operating loss of €12.55 million in the 12 months to March 2022.

The UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s owns Argos and there will be no change to Argos’s operations in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.