Although not entirely unexpected it appears that the days of Comet store being in retail parks across the UK are very numbered indeed with the shutters being drawn on another 125 Comet stores.
Administrator Deloitte said in a statement that “In the absence of a firm offer for the whole of the business… administrators of Comet have announced to staff their intention to begin closing a further 125 stores,”.
“This process will occur over several weeks and will leave approximately 70 stores which will remain open until all of the remaining stock is sold.”
“The company’s business support functions… will be further reduced at the same time, in line with the ongoing retail business,”
Deloitte also added that this would mean the loss of approximately 2500 jobs due to the closure of these stores.
Deloitte are still looking for a buyer for the Comet operation though or, the brand name only perhaps so that they can follow in the footsteps of the other big high street collapse, Woolworths and trade using the brand name online. This appears to be led by online retailer DRL who have been confirmed as making a “seven figure” bid for the Comet brand.
Chris Farrington, part of the Deloitte stated; “We remain in discussions with a small number of interested parties and hope that a positive outcome can still be achieved,”
“Unfortunately, in the absence of a firm offer for the whole of the business, it has become necessary to begin making plans… If a sale is not possible we would envisage stores to begin closing in December.”
Meanwhile we have reports of branches of Comet running the stock clearance of being “wiped out” of stock by shoppers eager to pick up a bargain from the collapsed retailer.
However anger and concerns have been raised over the way in which OpCapita has handled the Comet business and especially as it has come to light that Henry Jackson, the owner of the Comet business, stands as one of the first in line for a share of the estimated £60m that may be recovered from the collapse of Comet. This has led to some calling for the Business secretary Vince Cable to look into the murky world of private equity firms who, it appears, win whether they make the business succeed or it collapses.