Comet becomes the latest high profile retail casualty

Comet has joined the likes of JJB Sports, Clinton Cards, Blacks Leisure and Peacocks in the roll-call of large, well-known but failed retailer chains. This one is big - with the potential loss of over 6,000 jobs depending on what emerges from the mess.Surely this was inevitable. Comet, the struggling electrical retailer, was close to failing earlier in 2012 when it was rescued by a venture capitalist for just £2 (+ debts). However, a proposition based purely on selling at lowest price was unlikely to succeed for Comet against the likes of Amazon, Tesco and others with a much stronger online capability and a much stronger customer base. Comet's failure (it has been put into administration) leaves just Dixons Group as the last remaining specialist electrical retailer - a case of last man standing?The timing is a little unusual. Electrical retailers usually make a large proportion of their most profitable sales in the 6-8 week run up to Christmas. So the losses must have been pretty horrendous for OpCapita to decide the best option was administration.

The Comet case study makes excellent research material for business studies lessons and there is no shortage of good analysis of the timeline of Comet's demise in the usual sources. Here is a selection:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20164564

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9648883/Comet-most-high-profile-retail-casualty-since-financial-crisis.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/6500-jobs-under-threat-as-comet-goes-into-administration-8273828.html