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Electrical chain's Hull roots

Friday, May 16, 2008, 07:00

National electrical chain Comet is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The company, which was set up in Hull by George Hollingbery in 1933, will reach the milestone on Sunday.

The date commemorates the day Mr Hollingbery first hung the Comet sign above his workshop.

He started the two-man business, initially called Comet Battery Stores Ltd, charging batteries in his workshop and delivering them to customers around the city.

But shortly after the invention of the wireless radio, Mr Hollingbery diversified into radio rentals and renamed the business Comet Radio Services.

Such was the success of the company, that just six years after opening Comet had 2,500 customer accounts and a small fleet of vans.

In 1968 the Comet Group, then run by George's son, Michael, opened the first electrical warehouse in Hull.

Despite only selling radios and televisions from their boxes, customers queued for hours to buy the cut-price goods.

In 1970, Comet was launched as a public company and in 1984 it was bought out by Kingfisher Plc for £129m.

The company currently has two shops in the city, on St Andrew's Quay and Kingston Retail Park, as well as the headquarters and a customer information centre in George Street in the city centre.

 

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The Comet store on St Andrew's Quay in west Hull

The Comet store on St Andrew's Quay in west Hull

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