Argos — logos

Not to be confused with Agros.

Not to be confused with Argos Films.



1973–1998	1998–2010	2010–present

1973–1998

Designer:

Unknown

Typography:

Unknown

Launched:

1973

Argos was founded in 1973 by Richard Tompkins, who had previously established Green Shield Stamps in the United Kingdom. It was purchased by British American Tobacco in 1979 for £32 million, but would later demerge from it and be listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1990.

Most of the bigger Argos stores were named Superstores. These stores were found in both retail parks and city centres. The naming was discontinued in 2000 but was revived under Argos Extra.

Argos opened its first Irish stores in Ireland in January 1996.

This logo was last seen above the branch at Broadmarsh Shopping Centre, Nottingham before its closure in 2017. Argos offices in Stacy Bushes, Milton Keynes also sported this logo until 2010, and so did the branch at Boscombe, Bournemouth until its closure in 2012.

1998–2010

Designer:

Interbrand Newell and Sorrell (now Interbrand UK and Newell & Sorrell)

Typography:

Unknown

Launched:

1998 (online)
1999 (catalogues)

Argos was acquired by Great Universal Stores in April 1998 and its logo was given an overhaul that same year, removing many of the slabs serifs and stylisations on the lettering to give it a modernised look.

In 2003, Argos rebranded the larger stores that were previously Argos Superstores to Argos Extra stores. These larger stores carried a greater number of product lines and were commonly found in retail parks, similar to the former Superstores. A small number of these stores were also found in some city centres.

In October 2006, Great Universal Stores would demerge into Experian and the Home Retail Group, with Argos and sister chain Homebase becoming part of the latter taking effect from 10 October 2006.

Despite the introduction of the next logo in 2010, a small number of older stores remained unchanged with this logo.

2010–present

Designer:

Brand Union (now Design Bridge and Partners)

Typography:

Unknown

Launched:

January 23rd, 2010

In October 2009, it was announced that the Argos visual branding would be undergoing changes from 2010. This began on 23 January, with the relaunch of the main shopping website and an entirely new logo for Argos containing the text further modified and rounded off, and the curve beneath the lettering was detached from the "A", in addition to it further resembling a smile. The company expected that the rebranding process would take "a number of years", at a cost of £70 million.

In April 2016, Home Retail Group agreed to a £1.4 billion takeover by Sainsbury's, which by that point now consisted of Argos and Habitat. Both chains would be integrated into Sainsbury's stores, with the most prominent being the addition of Argos concessions in Sainsbury's locations.

Since then, more and more standalone stores have been moved into a nearby Sainsbury's store. Argos Collection points have also been installed inside smaller Sainsbury's supermarkets unable to accommodate a full in-store concession, and inside some Sainsbury's Local convenience stores.

On 13 September 2025, Sainsbury's was in talks to sell Argos to JD.com, claiming that "JD.com would bring world-class retail, technology and logistics expertise and invest to drive Argos’ growth and further transform the customer experience", though it also said that "no agreement has been reached and there is no certainty at this stage that any transaction will proceed". A day later, it abandoned the sale.