Argos appoints former Best Buy boss as managing director

Argos has appointed an experienced American retail executive as managing director of the struggling 759-store chain. Home Retail Group, which owns Argos and Homebase, said John Walden, who ran US electronics giant Best Buy for most of the previous decade, would start at the end of the month . Walden, who began his retail career in the 90s as chief operating officer of online supermarket pioneer Peabody before stints at Best Buy and US department store chain Sears, will report directly to Terry Duddy, Home Retail's chief executive. "We look forward to John bringing a valuable, fresh perspective to the future development of Argos," Duddy said. In October Argos blamed the squeeze on living standards faced by low-income families for a devastating collapse in trade that almost wiped out its first-half profits. It reported a 94% fall in profits to £3.4m in the first six months of its financial year, its worst performance since 1998. The declined has since continued with Argos last month posting a 8.8% fall in third-quarter underlying sales. Shares in Home Retail, which have lost more than half their value over the last year, were up 1p to 108.2p in early trading.