Comet Electricals Limited, trading as Comet, is an online electrical retail chain based in the United Kingdom. The company sells consumer electronics and white goods, along with related products and services. Its predecessor, under the same brand name, pioneered the concept of the out-of-town discount warehouse in the United Kingdom. The original company was formed in 1933 by George Hollingbery as a business charging batteries for customers on a weekly basis. The business grew and diversified into radio rentals, and the first store opened in the 1950s. Comet expanded during the 1960s and 1970s, and became a publicly listed company in 1972. The company was purchased by Woolworths, owned by Paternoster Stores (later Kingfisher plc) in 1984. In 2003, Comet was spun out of Kingfisher Group to become part of Kesa. In 2011, following sustained losses, Kesa sold the company to private equity firm OpCapita for a token £2. The firm entered administration in November 2012, and all stores and their stock was liquidated and closed by 18 December. Before its collapse, the company was the UK's second biggest electrical retailer, with 6,000 staff and over 200 stores. In 2019, The UK Computer Group announced the acquisition of the Comet brand and has relaunched Comet as an online retailer of electrical goods. History Early years (1933–1958) Comet was founded in Hull in 1933 by entrepreneur George Hollingbery as Comet Battery Stores. 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. By 1939, the service had expanded, to around 2,500 customers and a small fleet of vans was required for the deliveries. As customer demand grew for replacement wireless sets, Hollingbery renamed the business to Comet Radio Services and began providing a radio rental service. Comet's first retail store was opened in George Street, Hull in the 1950s. Two more stores were subsequently opened in Bridlington and Driffield. George Hollingbery died in 1958, aged 55, and his son Michael took control of the business. Pioneering the discount warehouse (1968–69) In 1964, the Resale Prices Act was passed in the United Kingdom, rendering all resale price agreements 'against the public interest' unless proven otherwise. Minimum resale price maintenance (MRPM) had ensured that retailers such as Comet could only sell a product at