Sainsbury’s set to roll out Argos and Habitat concessions in-store

Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has announced that it plans to host a click-and-collect Argos concession in almost every store in the UK.

The move comes after the chain acquired Home Retail Group, which is the parent company of both Argos and furniture store Habitat, in a £1.4bn takeover deal.

Sainsbury (Amsterdam: SJ6.AS - news) 's hopes that, over time, all except the smallest convenience stores will allow customers to collect Argos goods at the same time as completing their weekly shop.

It is thought that the move is intended to better prepare Sainsbury's to compete with online giant Amazon, which is about to branch into food retail with its Amazon Fresh delivery service.

Announcing the plans, Sainsbury's CEO Mike Coupe told Sky News that the company has plans to close down existing Argos stores in order to move them into its supermarkets.

Mr Coupe said that while there may be some job losses throughout the process as not all paired stores will be within the same vicinity, the firm expects to create an extra 1,000 positions as part of the plans.

He was speaking at the opening of Sainsbury's new flasgship Nine Elms store in southwest London, which is the first to feature both Habitat and Argos concessions since the acquisition deal was confirmed in September.

The Nine Elms branch is around 61,000 square foot in size and was designed to have a "department store look and feel".

Commenting on the new store, Mike Coupe said: "The trend towards shopping in convenience stores and online is well-documented, but supermarkets still take more than £1 in every £2 spent on groceries in the UK and will do so for the foreseeable future.

"Nine Elms is our vision for the Sainsbury's supermarket of the future - a true destination store for our customers, where they can get everything they need under one roof."