Comet owner boosted by closure rumours
May flee UK in pursuit of Darty French love
Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup/Recovery
Kesa Electricals – the owner of Comet – has seen its shares jump almost 8 per cent today, on rumours that it may close the UK chain Comet and return to its roots in France.
Kesa said last week that UK trading had been poor, while French revenue, through the Darty chain, was up 5 per cent despite the downturn. Group like-for-like sales were down 15.2 per cent on the year.
The retailer said it would cut 150 jobs and close up to 10 stores to reduce costs.
The news follows an analyst report on Dixons from Morgan Stanley which noted that its annual rent bill was three times its annual underlying profit. Morgan Stanley suggested the retailer close the UK business and concentrating on its Scandinavian business. ®
COMMENTS
Don't leave us, Comet!
If you pull out of the UK, I'll have to go somewhere else to look at consumer electronics in person before I buy them online from another retailer for 20% off your sticker price :(
Buying and collecting
You can't have it every way. Either you pay a higher price for someone to hold stock locally, or you must be prepared to wait until it can be delivered from a central warehouse.
It is only in the very rare situation where you will find a local retailer with products in stock, that they are prepared to sell at the same price as the large chains.
I must admit that having lost our local Currys during the sharp intake of breath DRG had when the credit crunch started, and also having lost our Woolworths, I am starting to look very favourably to our local independent electrical retailer, just to try to keep them in business and local. Yes, they're more expensive, but so is petrol, and my time is also precious. They will deliver exactly when I want, and also offer far more help and advice in fitting, often for free, than I got after paying for an installation service for my last cooker from one of the Nationals.
Re Don't leave us, Comet!
The Currys next door will still be there.
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Top 10 SIEM implementer’s checklist
Steps to Take Before Choosing a Business Continuity Partner
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
