Comet stores to start closing next week Comet stores are poised to begin closing as early as next week, in the wake of the electricals chain plunging into administration. The first of about 30 Comet stores to be lost are expected to close next week, according to people familiar with the situation. The chain has 236 stores. It is not clear at this stage how many jobs will be lost. Some 6,600 jobs are at risk overall after the collapse of Comet two weeks ago. Deloitte, appointed administrator to Comet, declined to comment on Friday. The remainder of Comet's stores are expected to continue to trade over the Christmas period, according to the people familiar with the situation. The 30 affected stores will begin closing down sales on Saturday. Comet, bought by private investment firm OpCapita for £2 from Kesa less than a year ago, fell into administration after it ran out of cash in the run-up to Christmas. OpCapita received a £50m cash dowry from Kesa - now known as Darty - when it acquired the business in February. A week ago Deloitte announced that it was making 330 redundancies at Comet, the majority at the head office and in central functions, such as finance and marketing. The jobs were based in Rickmansworth, Hull and Clevedon. It said at the time that no redundancies had been made at Comet stores or distribution centres, and stores continued to trade normally. The administrator has been talking to people interested in acquiring some of the chain's outlets, but has indicated that no buyer has been found for the whole of Comet. Among those interested in a handful of Comet stores is Maplin, the privately-owned electricals group. Rival retailer Dixons has pledged to take on as many as 2,000 Comet workers, while Maplin is looking to take on Comet staff where it can.