British electricals retailer Comet to shut 41 stores

British electrical goods chain Comet, which went into administration at the start of November, said on Saturday it would close 41 stores by the end of the month if a buyer could not be found. "A closing down sale with increased discounts has, therefore, begun in 27 stores Saturday and will begin in a further 14 stores early next week," administrators Deloitte said in a statement. "While the administrators will look to redeploy staff from any stores which do face closure to other stores nearby, there will inevitably be redundancies." Comet runs around 240 stores across Britain and operates online. Deloitte had already announced 330 redundancies but there have been no job losses among shop staff so far. The collapse of Comet marks one of the biggest high street casualties since the demise of Woolworths in 2008. Comet was founded in 1933 as a two-man business charging batteries for wireless radios. Electrical retailers operating out of stores are facing dual pressure from tough economic conditions and online competition, while other retailers are also feeling the pinch. British retail chains had shut an average of 20 stores per day in the first six months of 2012, according to consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers.