Comet has been sold for £2, which gives some indication of the mess it is in. The new owners say there is no plan to close stores and the company will carry on trading as is for the next few months. I'm not sure I can see a future for Comet though. The sort of changes needed should have happened long ago and no short term strategy would seem to offer salvation.
I saw only asset strippers as being interested and we shall have to see if that is the way it turns out. As I have said before, the time is right for an established player to take advantage of these weaknesses to secure market share, though with the lead feet they have shown to date, I doubt they will. The sector needs some radical rethinking of the way they do business and the service they can offer. It needs different relationships with suppliers, involved more with product development and a structural change to incentivise staff, localised.
Argos put out job ads for strategic staff who can 'think outside the box' and 'bring new ideas' to the company. They then ask for experience of large retail and a MBA, to maximise the chances of recruiting someone who fits into the current box and doesn't have an iota of initiative. The problems in companies starts with the way they recruit and I don't think anyone realises this yet.
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