17 replies to this topic

[Guess-Works.com]

I was about to say argos was formed out of what use to be greenshield stamp shops, which I remember..... I also remember co-op stamps.

[AVV IT]

my mom used to get them when she shopped at lo-cost......which was next to woolworths where i bought all of my (warped) records from............why were the records always warped in woolworths anyway???...................

My mum shopped at "Shoppers Paradise" (which was also next to Wollies), a No Frills supermarket that only stocked their own cheap value brands, all with the same orange and yellow label on them, it was awful. Shoppers Paradise ketchup was the worst though, it was basically thickened vinegar, with sugar and red food dye in!!

I didn't have to buy warped LP's at Woolies though, because we had an "Our Price Records" in my home town and their records were perfectly flat, well most of the time any way!

Edited by AVV IT, 05 March 2012 - 02:10 PM.

[jake cooper]

Jeez!!... That was like looking through the entire contents of my house as a child!!

My parents clearly bought everything in Argos, the plates the saucepans, the lamps, even the first calculator I ever saw was in there!!

.... No hang on, I seem to remember that Argos stores actually used to be the "Greensheild Stamp" shops (where you exchanged your Greensheild stamps for goods in the "Greensheild Stamps Catalogue", up until Greensheild stamps went bust in the early seventies). I'm fairly sure that all the old Greensheild Stamp shops were then re branded as Argos stores, which is probably why they are still a catalogue based retailer today.

So it's not that my parents bought everything in Argos, it's because everything they owned actually came free with Greensheild Stamps......The Tightwads!!


EDIT: For those of you are too young to remember, Greensheild Stamps were like a primitive version of nectar points, that you collected at participating petrol stations and supermarkets. They were actually gummed paper stamps though, and you used to have to lick the back of thousands of them and then stick them into a book. Once you had filled up enough books, you could then exchange your completed books for goods at a Greensheild Stamps shop.

Green Shield Stamp catalogue shops were rebranded Argos in July 1973. The company suspended sale of stamps in 1983, then had a short revival in 1987 involving 2,500 shops, finally ceasing in 1991