Whilst Misco is primarily focused on servicing Business and Public sectors, the purchase of Comet has allowed them to open themselves up to the consumer market.

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.

"[2] Sugar said: "This form of retailing signalled the demise of the small electrical shop on the street corner, which simply couldn't compete.

"[6] Initially, Comet was the only major retailer offering electrical equipment at heavily discounted prices, and the largest share of its business remained mail order.

When competitors such as the G. W. Smith and Laskys chains also began to offer discounted equipment, Comet was compelled to begin opening its own branches nationwide.

[5] Goods were sold with 12 months' free service, including parts and labour, and Comet guaranteed that it would beat "any genuine advertised price" for brand new items.

[9] Michael Hollingbery revealed that inheritance tax had been one of the reasons for the flotation, saying: "If a death had occurred in the family we could have lost control or faced considerable financial problems.

"[10] By November 1973, Comet had established 25 discount warehouses in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Grimsby, Hull, Jarrow, Leeds, Leicester, London, Norwich, Newport, Nottingham, Oxford, Reading, Rochdale, Sheffield, Southampton, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland, Wigan and Willenhall.

[8] The business was impacted badly in 1974 by the three-day week, tighter government controls on hire purchase and consumer credit, and the knock-on effect of a worldwide shortage of steel and plastic.

Where previously it had been able to sell goods "so quickly that they are gone before the manufacturers' invoice has to be met" Comet now found itself having to dramatically revise its sales forecasts and reassess its orders.

[16] Although Comet reported sales increases of up to 600% in some of its warehouses, Michael Hollingbery warned that the group would be maintaining only the minimum working stock from 1 May onwards.

What has been happening in the past week has been that people have merely brought forward the purchase they had planned to make later in the year or have realised that certain types of goods that they can afford now may be later out of their grasp.

[19] In July 1976, Comet acquired the Eclipse Radio and Television Services chain from Loyds Retail, a subsidiary of Philips.

[20] Consumer fears of an emergency autumn budget and changes to the Minimum Lending Rate drove Comet's sales to 15% above predictions in late 1976.

[23] The following day, Woolworths (then owned by Paternoster Stores, forerunner of Kingfisher) announced that it had made a £177 million counter-bid, which had been accepted.

Stanley Kalms, Dixons' chairman, said: "[This] is about a virtual monopoly in retail parks, the fastest growing sector of the business.

Trading at a loss, and with considerable leasehold commitments, analysts suggested that both Comet and Woolworths, with "weak retail strategies" of "cheap and cheerful", might be sold by Kingfisher.

[35] Kingfisher's chairman Sir Geoff Mulcahy, described their performance as "unsatisfactory" and said "We have got two problem areas, Woolworths and Comet."

[42] Kingfisher responded by appointing Joe Riordon, former vice-president of Wal-Mart's people division, as managing director of Comet.

[43] In July 2000, Wal-Mart, in what The Times described as "the opening shots in the assault on its British counterparts", announced that it would be discounting some goods by up to 60%.

During 2001–02, e-commerce electrical retailer dabs.com made sales of £116 million, which one analyst pointed out was the equivalent trade of 25 Comet stores.

Although Comet and other retailers established their own websites e-tailers were still able to undercut them because direct shipping of the goods from warehouses to customers cut out the need for large stores, infrastructure and sales staff.

[49] In January 2005, Comet faced increasing pressure, when Tesco announced it would trial non-food stores, retailing electrical goods, CDs and DVDs.

Trade magazine Retail Week warned that Tesco would launch a "ferocious assault on the market for digital cameras and music players," one of the few growth areas in the sector.

"[52] In September 2007, at the beginning of the financial crisis, KESA warned that its prospects in the United Kingdom were "uncertain" as the credit crunch and higher interest rates could lead to consumers cutting back their spending on new electrical products.

Analysts at Landsbanki said: "[W]e see serious long run threats to electrical retailing from the growth of the internet, the proliferation of competition and the resultant downward pressure on prices and margins.

KESA would also provide a £46.8 million 'dowry' of working capital, and retain all the pension liabilities for employees on pre-existing defined benefit schemes.

[58][59][60] Two weeks before the firm entered administration, OpCapita announced they were exploring options to sell the chain, after only twelve months of ownership.

[69] On 17 November 2012, administrators appointed for Comet announced that at least 41 out of the retailer's 236 stores would be closed, if they failed to sign any potential buyer to take them over by end of the month.