Comet is about to be knocked out of its orbit, according to reports. The electrical goods retailer is about to enter administration and could disappear altogether.
Comet could file to appoint administrators as early as today, the FT reports. Deloitte is touted as a potential administrator, stepping in to try and reverse its fortunes, sell off parts of the business, or ultimately wind up the company entirely.
That's very bad news indeed for Comet's 6,500 staff, in 240 stores across the country.
Almost exactly a year ago, the entire company was sold to an investment firm for £2. But Comet failed to turn round its losses -- estimated to be £35m up to April -- and has been trading without credit insurance, which protects suppliers should a shop go under. Without that guarantee, Comet has been forced to pay suppliers in cash for crucial Christmas stock.
If Comet does disappear, there'll be a worrying lack of competition in the high streets and retail parks of our green and pleasant land. PC World and Curry's are part of the same company, leaving just the smaller likes of Maplin, Richer Sounds and independent retailers that I can think of flogging gadgets from bricks and mortar stores. And supermarkets, of course, but good luck getting advice on aspect ratios or firmware updates from trolley-pushing staff.
It's certainly hard flogging gadgets in real-life shops. Under pressure from Amazon and other Internet retailers, Dixons, Game and Best Buy have in recent years shuffled off to the great high street in the sky, alongside other obsolete tech shops such as Rumbelows and Radio Rentals. Despite being a massive chain in the US, Best Buy lasted little more than 18 months in the cut-throat retail parks of Blighty.
Do you buy your gadgets on the high street, or get your gear online? What can bricks and mortar stores do to lure you back? Share your tips in the comments or on our bargain-basement Facebook page.
Update: Comet has confirmed that it is entering administration next week. Stores will stay open for the moment; if you have any Comet gift cards or vouchers, get down to your nearest store and spend 'em while you got 'em.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Comments 11
Add your comment
anonymous 1 November, 2012 13:11
I can think of John Lewis, who frankly give much better advice than either Currys or Comet
anonymous 1 November, 2012 13:15
Currys and PC World have combined many of their stores into one unit already.
MikeBuck_1 1 November, 2012 13:37
i'll buy from the high street if the price is only slightly above internet, purely for ease, I like looking at tech myself not just relying on others opinions, plus I like walking away with something in my hands and getting it straight away. on alot of tech now the price is more decided by the manufacturer not the seller, for example, I was looking at the Toshiba AT300 tablet, and the price was the same in PC world on the high street as on Amazon.
having said that, I very rarely speak to staff in places like that, cos looking on the internet at something for 5 minutes will give you more info on a product than the staff know, and they just want to flog that useless insurance every time.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 14:58
DIXON's owns PC-World and Curry's they just use the PC World and Curry names instead of Dixon's these days.
Hence it been the Dixon Group Still
anonymous 1 November, 2012 15:16
its the lack of competion in the future that will hurt us all ,restricted choice leaves Jo Public at the mercy of the few
anonymous 1 November, 2012 15:43
John Lewis bosses this market with ease.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 16:20
Not really surprised. I do the bulk of my electronics shopping online these days. And if I do buy in-store, I tend to go somewhere where I can speak to someone and get some advice.
Comet's online prices never really competed with the likes of Amazon while in-store it was luck of the draw if I got to speak to someone who knows about the products or not.
CaptainPicard 1 November, 2012 16:49
^ Same here anon. Richer Sounds though has got really good deals on TV's, and great customer service and people who know what they are talking about, I highly recommend them to anyone. I think Comets prices will go down once its in administration, could be an early Christmas bargain.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 16:59
They got it all wrong, who wants to go into a store and get 'pounced on' every seconds by a sales person? If I want help I will ask.
Also if I buy a TV I do not need the 'hard sell' of 'extra warranties' or a 'service plan' etc etc etc DO YOU PEOPLE REALISE THAT YOU CHASED YOUR OWN CUSTOMERS AWAY ?
As someone said above, I would pay 'slightly' above an Internet price to take something away immediately rather than wait, however I am not going to pay you £50 for something I can get online for £25 !!!!
To the people that lost your jobs I am sorry, your CEO etc let you down with there 'hard sell the extras' and pricing. One day realisation and not greed will succeed with the big chains.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 19:19
^ I agree, the CEO of this company clearly cannot run it, my partner works for comet and they are made to ask customers to buy extra care etc.. And is also made to go to a customer as soon as they step foot in store, there prices are hardly competitive with other companies, the staff should be told to lay off with pressure and these stupid service plans, the sales they also have are a joke, maybe they should try lowering the cost of things to normal prices and treating their staff and customers with a bit of respect and maybe the company wouldn't be in this situation.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 22:40
This has been on the cards since i left them 2 years ago, They cut staff time and time again. They had very bad selling practices and as such i left sales after 2 years to do back of house until i left them a year later.
They would pressure customers in to buying warranties, thats all staff knew or would focus on, and if they weren't doing that they where throwing needlessly expensive Monster cables in your face. It was purely driven by sales figures and attachment rates, if you sold a TV without a cable/screen clean/warranty etc... you would be in for a stern talking to. No wonder people wont shop there.
The biggest scam was the cabling they would display two TV's side by side both running of the same blu ray player and this is how it would be worded:
"The TV on the right is using the 'Standard cable that comes in the box', the TV on the left is using one of our Monster cables".
It's at this point it should be mentioned what the customer is seeing here is HDMI vs composite cable, and of course people would be misled. On all the monster training the company would send you on you would never see a Monster cable vs a standard HDMI cable EVER!!