Comet Group
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| Electrical retailer | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Administration |
| Founded | 1 January 1933 |
| Founder | George Hollingbery in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Defunct | 18 December 2012 |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Neville Barry Kahn, Nicholas Guy Edwards and Christopher James Farrington (administrators for Deloitte LLP) |
| Products | White Goods, Brown Goods, Telecommunications, Information technology, Home Entertainment |
| Owner | OpCapita (2012) |
| Parent | Kingfisher/Woolworths (Formerly) |
| Website | www |
Comet Group Limited was an electrical retail chain trading in the United Kingdom, latterly owned by OpCapita. The company sold consumer electronics and white goods, along with related products and services, and pioneered the concept of the out-of-town discount warehouse in the United Kingdom.
The company was formed in 1933 by George Hollingbery as a business charging batteries for customers on a weekly basis. The business grew and diversified into radio rentals, and the first store opened in the 1950s. Comet expanded during the 1960s and 1970s, and became a publicly listed company in 1972. The company was purchased by Woolworths, owned by Paternoster Stores (later Kingfisher plc) in 1984.
In July 2003, Comet was spun out of Kingfisher Group, to become part of Kesa. In November 2011, following a period of sustained losses, Kesa sold Comet to private equity firm OpCapita for £2. In November 2012, the company entered administration, after OpCapita failed to turn the business around. All stores were closed by 18 December 2012.
Comet was founded in Hull in 1933 by entrepreneur George Hollingbery as Comet Battery Stores. Hollingbery had noticed the increasing popularity of the wireless radio during the 1930s and launched a service which involved himself and one other employee charging batteries in his workshop and delivering them to customers for a small weekly fee.
By 1939, the service had expanded, to around 2,500 customers and a small fleet of vans was required for the deliveries. As customer demand grew for replacement wireless sets, Hollingbery renamed the business to Comet Radio Services and began providing a radio rental service. Comet's first retail store was opened in George Street, Hull in the 1950s. Two more stores were subsequently opened in Bridlington and Driffield.
George Hollingbery died in 1958, aged 55, and his son Michael took control of the business.
In 1964 the Resale Prices Act was passed in the United Kingdom, rendering all resale price agreements 'against the public interest' unless proven otherwise. Minimum resale price maintenance (MRPM) had ensured that retailers such as Comet could only sell a product at a price determined by the manufacturer. The abolition of MRPM allowed Comet to make the transition from a small electrical retail chain in Yorkshire to a national discount retailer. In 1968, Comet opened its first out-of-town retail store in Hull, offering a range of 50 radio and TV products.
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Wikipedia