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Comet (retailer)
Comet Electricals Limited (trading as Comet.co.uk) is a British online electricals retailer and a former electricals retail chain. The company sells consumer electronics and white goods, along with other related products and services.
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 electricals store opened in the 1950s. Comet expanded during the 1960s and 1970s, and became a publicly listed company in 1972. In 1984, the Hollingberry family sold the business to Woolworths Group (later Kingfisher plc) in 1984, who later sold it to Kesa in July 2003. In November 2011, private equity firm OpCapita purchased Comet for a token £2 following sustained losses, later placing it into administration. The 240 stores and stock was liquidated and closed by 18 December 2012, with 6,500 staff losing their jobs.
In August 2020, after nearly eight years of dormancy, Misco revived the Comet brand as an online-only retailer. In May 2025, the Comet brand was acquired by OnBuy, with plans to return in late 2025 as an online electronics marketplace, following a £10m investment. Comet was reverted back to its pre-2010 brand.
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 television products.
Alan Sugar, the founder of Amstrad, said later that the opening of this discount warehouse "changed the face of retailing." The business was predominantly mail order although members of the public were also able to purchase from the warehouse in person.
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Comet (retailer)
Comet Electricals Limited (trading as Comet.co.uk) is a British online electricals retailer and a former electricals retail chain. The company sells consumer electronics and white goods, along with other related products and services.
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 electricals store opened in the 1950s. Comet expanded during the 1960s and 1970s, and became a publicly listed company in 1972. In 1984, the Hollingberry family sold the business to Woolworths Group (later Kingfisher plc) in 1984, who later sold it to Kesa in July 2003. In November 2011, private equity firm OpCapita purchased Comet for a token £2 following sustained losses, later placing it into administration. The 240 stores and stock was liquidated and closed by 18 December 2012, with 6,500 staff losing their jobs.
In August 2020, after nearly eight years of dormancy, Misco revived the Comet brand as an online-only retailer. In May 2025, the Comet brand was acquired by OnBuy, with plans to return in late 2025 as an online electronics marketplace, following a £10m investment. Comet was reverted back to its pre-2010 brand.
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 television products.
Alan Sugar, the founder of Amstrad, said later that the opening of this discount warehouse "changed the face of retailing." The business was predominantly mail order although members of the public were also able to purchase from the warehouse in person.