Entrepreneur Cas Paton, 42, has relaunched Comet as an online electrical marketplace, 14 years after the chain went into liquidation in 2012. The new Comet will offer more than one million products from 2,500 sellers, ranging from TVs and washing machines to mobiles, computers and the latest gadgets.
Paton, from Manchester, said he remembers visiting the Trafford Park store with his late dad Nigel as a young boy and being excited by the technology on display. He has brought back the brand's famous black and orange branding, rejecting a later rebrand he believes lost some of the connection with customers.
Bringing back the excitement
Paton said: "I remember being a very young boy and going into Comet and just being so excited by the potential of all this new technology. Whether it was the TVs or the electronics, these were things you aspired to own. It's that excitement of going into the store that I don't think has ever really been recreated."
He added: "It was non-negotiable that we went live with the brand everyone actually remembered. Comet is a brand that has such a positive impression on so many people. The era it comes from, where you would walk through the doors and see all the technology you may not have seen before or couldn't afford, that feeling has gone today. We're all so exposed to product in a completely different way."
"We wanted to try and bring that nostalgia of the brand and the history and the way it makes people feel into an online marketplace so that people know they're coming to a specialist online. While we're not going to give people the same in-store feeling that we once had, at least customers know when they go to Comet it's a site that really caters only for those products. You won't find furniture or clothing."
Online-only with potential high street links
Although the new Comet will be online-only, Paton is exploring click-and-collect partnerships which could put the Comet name back on the high street. He said: "I want Comet to be able to connect to stores again. We're exploring a few options that might put Comet's name back on a few buildings."
Paton believes there is room for a specialist electrical marketplace alongside the online giants and is excited to bring "some competition back to the market". Unlike some competitors, Comet will not sell its own stock. He said: "Every sale that's made on Comet is a sale for another retailer. We're a friend of the retailers. We're here to attract customers, build trust and give customers choice."
Paton has already invested £10m in the launch and believes Comet could eventually become a business worth between £250m and £500m.
From paper round to online marketplace
His entrepreneurial streak started early. At just 14, while still at school and doing a paper round, he was earning £500 a time showing shop owners how they could increase profits by ditching outdated price-sticker guns. He later joined the Royal Navy before studying law at Bournemouth University, but university life alone proved too slow after the Navy. He said: "I decided to set up my first company online which cost me £79.99. It was the best £79.99 I ever spent!"
By his third year at university, he had 27 staff and his businesses eventually turned into technology and e-commerce, leading to online marketplace OnBuy. Paton put up to £600,000 into the technology, shut down his other businesses and even sold the house he planned to move into. He said: "I basically went from being a relatively high-performing income person to completely broke to get OnBuy off the ground. It was like going all-in on a poker game."
Progress was slow for 18 months but after then, things took off. He said: "It was £100,000 a month and then 18 months later it was £1million a month, and 18 months later it was £10million a month." Many people told him it would never work, and one venture capital firm said in 2017 they would be surprised if OnBuy ever reached £1 million in annual sales. But years later, the same person messaged him to say they couldn't believe they had passed on the opportunity, as his business is worth £250m today.
On his office wall at the family home in Manchester is a picture of a shoal of fish swimming in one direction, with a single fish heading the other way. The caption reads: "What if everyone else is wrong?".
Paton said: "I really like the idea that you can see something you can do that other people maybe don't see. Bringing Comet back to life and bringing it into a new world of glory is exactly that." He also believes there could never be a better time for its return. "The market is really tough. Money is really tight," he said. "But people still need a kettle. They still need a toaster. They still want a TV. If we can help people save money by bringing better choice from a reputable, long-standing brand that has nostalgia and trust, I think it's a great win."
Despite his success, Paton says he is still driven by the same excitement he felt staring at gadgets he couldn't afford as a boy. Asked what that boy, who started out with £80 building websites, would make of owning one of Britain's most recognisable retail names, he laughs: "Probably that we could be doing more."
