The Comet struggle continues apace-- administrators Deloitte will close 41 stores by end November 2012 should they fail to find a buyer for the electricals chain.
Closing down sales are already going on at 27 Comet stores, and a further 14 stores should start similar sales next week. The remaining 195 stores will continue operating as usual, if with "generous discounts" and a generally shaky outlook for the post-holiday season future.
The closure plans follow recent Comet job cuts-- 330 employees were rendered redundant from head office and central functions. Reports also suggest Deloitte plans to close down the Comet home delivery operation.
"While the administrators will look to redeploy staff from any stores which do face closure to other stores nearby, there will inevitably be redundancies," Deloitte says. "The administrators continue to hold discussions with parties who have expressed interest in parts of the business."
Dixons and Maplin both plan to take in a number of Comet staff. Maplin had also expressed interest in acquiring a "handful" of Comet stores, even if Deloitte prefers if it were able to sell the entire chain.
The news of store closures follows the dropping of Comet into administrators by owners OpCapita, just 10 months after it acquired the retailer from Kesa (aka Darty) for all of £2, a purchase complete with tidy £50 million cash dowry.