Argos has announced that its store in Llanelli's St Elli Shopping Centre has closed.
The national retail company has been a fixture in the town's shopping centre for many years but it has now been confirmed that it will not be re-opening its doors following the latest lockdown.
Its store in the Parc Pemberton retail park is unaffected and will remain open, acting as the next closest store for customers who have called the news "a shame" for the town.
The company explained that members of staff at the store were offered "opportunities to redeploy to alternative roles" within Sainsbury's, which bought Argos in 2016.
Last year, the company shared plans to open 350 more Argos stores in Sainsbury's and Argos collection points in supermarkets and convenience stores by March, 2024. As a result, this means the company has said it no longer needs as many standalone stores as it plans to close around 420 branches.
A spokeswoman for Argos said: "The St Elli Shopping Centre Argos store in Llanelli has now closed and colleagues were offered opportunities to redeploy to alternative roles within Sainsbury’s. Customers can continue to shop with us at our nearby stores, including our Llanelli Parc Pemberton store and the Collection Point in Swansea Gorseinon Sainsbury’s."
In December, 2019, it was announced that the Argos Extra store in Swansea's High Street would be closing and relocating to the nearby Sainsbury's. The move saw no direct job losses as staff also moved across to the supermarket.
Last year, it was announced that mobile network operator EE had closed its store in Stepney Street as part of a planned consolidation with the store in Parc Trostre, while shoe retail company Clarks also confirmed it would be closing its Llanelli store.
It was also confirmed that surfing-inspired fashion brand Animal would be shutting down its store in Parc Trostre in December, as well as its brand in Swansea's Quadrant Shopping Centre.
