User:Argoshistorian/History

ARGOS A History. Richard Tompkins started up Argos at a time when the gift stamp concept had been thoroughly explored by various other companies than Green Shield Stamps. The Green Shield company arose as a result of Tompkins visit to the USA where Pink Stamps ( Sperry and Hutchinson) were the market leaders. Later, S&H entered the UK market but by then Green Shield was so strong they failed to have much impact. Fortuitously he had ownership of a printing company which at that time had a contract with Zetters Football pools. This enabled him to produce catalogues of gifts and also the treasured Green Shield Stamps ( burglars regularly stole quantities and many people tried to by-pass the security processes of destroying ‘redeemed’ stamps.)  Over a period of approx 15 years Green Shield grew even greater and had companies such as Tesco as its clients. This together with almost every petrol station and small independent shop in the UK plus some cigarette companies comprised the Green Shield empire. In every major UK City or town elaborately decorated shops called ’Gift Houses’ were positioned to redeem the stamp savers books of stamps. The Co-op started up its own gift stamps instead of dividend about 1970 but this did not represent any competition. On the back of this success, Richard Tompkins then had warehouses, in Harlow and High Wycombe but these proved inadequate so in 1970 he opened what was then the largest warehouse in Europe near Daventry. They played a football match inside before it was fitted out. In the early 1970s the UK economic situation was in decline and the major retailer Tesco ceased to utilise trading stamps. Petrol companies faced with rising prices for oil also began to discard the stamps. The guiding principle of stamp trading economics was to have a local ‘family’ of businesses all dealing with stamps. As Tesco and garages dropped out of the system so this became increasingly difficult to maintain. A complete book of stamps had a value in cash exchange for goods of approx. £1. When Green Shield Stamps was finally subsumed into Argos circa 1976 it is believed that there were still approx £30Million in circulation. This amount was secured in a fund established as a result of the Trading Stamps Act. ( circa 1966?) With foresight, Tompkins had by then initiated the process of developing a new catalogue trading company , another project which he had seen in the USA. Under a strict security blanket in which even the name of Argos was not revealed till eve of launch, Fitch and Co of Covent Garden prepared designs for shops and also the initial catalogue which was photographed behind curtained-off shop windows in a former Woolworths in Wandsworth. The first tranche of Argos shops at Bond St, Wandsworth, Hendon, Colindale all opened on the same day and Argos was launched with 4500 catalogue items at a media presentation in the West Centre Hotel, London. Inside was a complete shop with every item on display. On opening day July 21st 1973 it rained incessantly, Hendon was flooded by sewage running through the shop, and maggots fell like the rain from a real sheep’s golden fleece ( painted ) that had been draped on a tree in the Bond St. store. Finding suitable premises for the new Argos Catalogue showrooms, as they were titled then, was difficult because landlords and developers were suspicious of the new entity and format. Key retailers such a Marks and Spencers, Woolworths, BHS seemed to support an embargo on the new upstart so Argos had to find secondary positions for its expanding chain. Richard Tompkins had a family interest in a company called New Day Furnishers which operated mainly in the Midlands and South, so the second tranche of Argos stores was based on these such as places such as Evesham, Kingsheath ,Christchurch, Ferndown. Redundant Green Shield stores were also added, Dudley, Birmingham centre. Once established, developers began to include Argos in their plans. Ironically, many new stores occupied former Woolworths or BHS which at that time were moving into newly developed shopping centres. The original headquarters of Green Shield stamps also temporarily housed the administration of Argos until they moved to Bushey House for a period until Green Shield Stamps ceased and then moved back to Edgware. The merchandise buying department which was at Merit House, Colindale, also moved into Green Shield House at that time. Richard Tompkins had kept the company private but sold it to BAT industries in 1979. In 1984 as the company and personnel numbers had grown, Argos moved to new headquarters in Avebury Boulevard , Milton Keynes. Having established itself in all the UK major towns and cities, in 1987. Argos began to open ’Best Sellers ’ stores in secondary towns with a separate smaller catalogue. These proved to be so successful that after a short period they were all converted to full scale Argos Stores. Expansion continued into Eire with Argos taking over Green Shield Stamps shops Dublin, Limerick, and Cork, and a warehouse near Dublin. With these ventures Argos tripled in size over the next few years the catalogue had also tripled in size ( and weight) and such was the extent of the catalogue run that it was now being printed simultaneously twice a year in Britain, Germany and Spain. The largest print-run ever and far exceeding the print run of the Bible.

Ends.

Contributed by Louis Lawrence former Merchandising Display Manager Green Shield / Argos.