Summary
An electrical retailer has relaunched, 14 years after it went into administration. Comet has made a comeback as an online electricals marketplace, following a £10 million investment, as reported by Retail Gazette. The website went live yesterday (November 9), with more than a million products from 2,500 sellers, including mobile phones, TVs computing, gaming and household appliances.
Details
The website also brought back the brand’s black and orange logo. The relaunch follows OnBuy’s acquisition of the brand from Misco Technologies in May last year. Operated by OnCommerce, the new electrical marketplace holds no stock of its own, with third-party retailers and brands selling through the platform.
It is recruiting more sellers ahead of the key Christmas trading period. Cas Paton, Comet chief executive and OnBuy founder , said the business aimed to build on shoppers’ familiarity with the Comet brand, while adapting to how they shop today. He set out an ambitious target to grow Comet into a £1 billion business.
While there are no plans to relaunch stores, Paton said the business was exploring a retail partnership with to offer click and collect. Comet was founded in 1933 and grew to be one of the UK’s largest electricals chains. Its collapse in 2012 resulted in the closure of 236 stores, including those in Gloucester and Cheltenham, and around 7,000 job losses.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester
