Wednesday 26 November 2008

Argos!

I' ve just been to Argos (I know - the dazzling glamour of my life - it's almost too much...). It was the second time in the past few weeks that I've been obliged to shop there, and I approached the place with extreme reluctance. On my first visit I had been in and out in under five minutes, with barely any queuing, no queries, no delays. Naturally I assumed this was a freakish bit of good luck - I have memories of shopping at Argos being much like visiting a Soviet-era supermarket. But no - this second time I was in and out of Argos even more smoothly and in even less time. Suddenly Argos is my kind of shopping - swift, efficient, minimal human contact, the whole thing stripped down to the essentials. It will never replace online shopping in my affections - well, online shopping on eBay, Amazon, AbeBooks and a few other favourites - but if shop one must in the nonvirtual world, Argos is the place to go. Good Lord, I never thought I'd say that...

14 comments:

  1. Here, here, Nige. And the Argos self-service is a blessing. No more queuing up with single mothers in their grey towelin sweat suits and double-width baby carriages with slobbering child with full diaper and a menacing look in its eye.

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  2. Incidentally, what did you get me for Christmas. Go on, tell me. No, don't... Oh, go on... Was it the Bill Oddie duvet and pillow set?

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  3. Close Dick, uncannily close... Close your eyes now if you don't want to spoil the surprise................
    The matching Stephen Fry nightgown, nightcap and honey drizzler!

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  4. They are using Bill Oddies feathers as duvet filling now ?
    Argos, I thought you lot shopped in the Harvey Nicks gadgets for the boys dept.
    The Argos catalogue makes an ideal
    prop for wobbly tables.

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  5. A honey drizzler! How did you know what I wanted?

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  6. Interesting. Argos here is always packed, with crowds of school kids and not a few types who look like gentlemen of the road in search of some warmth. But then I guess here is a far cry from Kensington, a very far cry. The shop that's nearly empty is Robert Dyas where I quite often get what I'm looking for and at the same price or better. For electronics and gizmos, Maplins is good too. Even so there is still something depressing about Argos and one can see some pretty desperate-looking people in there - harassed mums with the buggy trying to do Christmas on a wing and a prayer, etc. I tend to avoid it.

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  7. Ah yes Mark - Robert Dyas is a fine shop (tho not quite what it was) and Maplins seems the best of its kind. ..

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  8. I was once banned from my local Maplins after making an off-hand remark about 'Star Trek'. To say it's a geek's heaven is to downplay its significance to lonely middle aged men with train sets and neurotic teenagers wishing to blow up the world.

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  9. May I introduce you to the delights of one of Germany's finest, The Saturn Group. Argos, Currys, PC World, Dabbs, HMV, John Lewis telly dept, Jessops and Carphone Warehouse, all under one roof, very acceptable prices (last purchase was a 1TB high quality, external HDD..ninety five Euro's.) The downside is, apart from their own storecard, they don't take plastic. Most shoppers seem to use cash.
    One of the reasons possibly why the Germans, unlike the British aren't drowning in a sea of debt.

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  10. 1 terrabyte of external hard storage... I'm drooling, Malty. Is that firewire or USB 2.0? And are we allowed to talk dirty like this on Nige's blog?

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  11. Dick, the little darling will snuggle up nicely to your USB port, she only speaks German, you can talk dirty to her if you like, she wont have a clue what you say.
    The added bonus, she's dressed in black, and she can be configured in raid.
    My God Nige, that Madeley bloke is a bad influence, how does that nice wife of his cope.

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  12. Would that be Raid 0, Malty? I prefer Raid 1 myself. I know that bigger storage is attractive but I like to live with the certainty that I have a backup in an emergency. I think Nige is probably a Raid 1 kind of guy too.

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  13. Dick, I think Nige would be happier sitting by the fire, cravat loosened, owl on shoulder, with a copy of Bills biog in his hand, rather than wandering the neon lit corridors of geekly towers.
    May the power of Ubuntu wash over you.

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  14. Matly you are right - and I have absolutely no idea what you guys were talking about...

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