Jessops gone into administration...

[Megaflow]

StevieBee said:

What did they do wrong? IMO, they went 'mainstream'.

Keen 'hobbyiest' photographers love their kit. Nothing saddens one as much as empty space in their photo bag which is why we are forever buying filters, cables, tripod attachments, lenses, cases to protect cases....and so on. Buying a camera is just the start. For those buying a point and shoot camera...they buy it and, well, that is it.

This is why, in Chelmsford, a city that that boasts a Jessops and an indy camera shop, the indy shop is always brimming with credit card wielding photo nerds like me and Jessops, which isn't.

Online is good but there are plenty of photographers out there who like to browse, touch, feel, try and buy there and then.

The indy shop also does a raring trade in second hand gear. So, while you might save £15 on something online, you can take in your old Pentax and trade it in for a £30.

Spot on... Jessop's Peterborough was just like the indy you are describing full of all manner of random accessories and decent second hand gear. Then they went and chased the mainstream, first anything of interest accessory wise went, then the second hand gear went all they have left now is cameras, most of which can be bought from elsewhere for less, which would be ok if the staff knew what there were talking about, but they don't.

[andy_s]

My local Jessops were fine - I was overwhelmed by choice on the net, and rather than spend the best part of a decade reading and comparing reviews etc I went to chat to someone who knew his onions and bought a few bits and bobs at the same price I could have online.

Shame for those affected.

[thinfourth2]

Adrian W said:

HoHoHo said:

tuffer said:

thinfourth2 said:

HHHHHHH said:

Munka01 said:

Jessops gone bust? Never pictured that happening....

Yep, the shutters are going up

I can see how this will develop

They just didn't get enough exposure, its been a steady slide.

Yeh, their depth of field was too narrow and they lost focus.

They needed to step it up

Oh can you guys just F-stop this

[JonRB]

Doesn't surprise me in the least, I'm afraid.

When I decided to buy my Canon 650D last year, I noticed Jessops online were competitive on price and had a "collect from store" facility, so I reserved it online and popped down to Basingstoke with the printout.
When I got there, the staff were busy helping someone with the photo printing machine. Fair enough, so I hang around for 10 mins and finally get some floppy-haired student type to serve me, who says "oh, yeah, ok. I'll look at that for you" and puts my printout down on the counter and looks rather lost, and another customer grabs him with "could you just quickly..." and he wanders off to serve him instead leaving me standing there. After another 5 or so minutes, and rather annoyed by this time, I loudly tell the guy that I hope that the customer who he's decided to go off and serve spends more than £600 because that's the value of the sale he's just lost, and walked out. I bought it from Amazon instead and it arrived the next day.

Isolated incident, perhaps, but it doesn't reflect well.

I should probably add that a good few years ago when I bought my 350D from Jessops in Camberley they gave superb service.

[GroundEffect]

Jessops were competitive on some prices - for instance I got my 35mm 1.8G lens for my Nikon in there just as cheap as anywhere online...but some stuff was ridiculous. SD cards and bodies could be waaaaaaay above online.

[MG-FIDO]

thinfourth2 said:

Adrian W said:

HoHoHo said:

tuffer said:

thinfourth2 said:

HHHHHHH said:

Munka01 said:

Jessops gone bust? Never pictured that happening....

Yep, the shutters are going up

I can see how this will develop

They just didn't get enough exposure, its been a steady slide.

Yeh, their depth of field was too narrow and they lost focus.

They needed to step it up

Oh can you guys just F-stop this

In the end they just didn't have the white balance stock wise.

[mat777]

GavinPearson said:

Photography has boomed in recent times

Photography proper, or just every single teenage girl that has an A-level in taking 500 photographs of the same lamppost/garden gate/manhole cover and tinting them all different colours on photoshop?

sugerbear said:

John Lewis has some very positive points that Jessops does not.

It is run for the good of its staff alone so no shareholders/hedge fund and it isn't overloaded with debt.
It doesn't rely on a single vertical to generate profits
It has relatively few outlets and an Internet presence
It has a very loyal and affluent following

Combine those and you can see why it won't be disappearing anytime soon unless they put a complete buffoon in charge.

Edited by sugerbear on Wednesday 9th January 22:27

More to the point - it's often impossible to get what you want elsewhere. About 10 years ago, we bought a 3-piece suite from them and there was cockup after cockup. Delayed delivery, then when they finally delivered it (pale fabric sofas) they were filthy because they hadn't been covered properly. Then pisspoor customer service from the local branch in getting it exchanged etc. We wrote them a very long letter which finished with "I will never buy another high-value item at John Lewis ever again.

Fast forward 9 years, and we are ordering a new suite for the new house... and where else do we go? DFS/CSL sofas are all cheap and not made as well, and you cant really order a sofa suite on the internet. Hence by default they get the business again

Edited by mat777 on Thursday 10th January 15:04

[sparkythecat]

mat777 said:

Fast forward 9 years, and we are ordering a new suite for the new house... and where else do we go? DFS/CSL sofas are all cheap and not made as well, and you cant really order a sofa suite on the internet.

Multiyork make very good sofas and have excellent aftersales service. The sofas we bought from them 9 years ago are as good as new.
They also have a store near you
http://www.multiyork.co.uk/

[sjn2004]

Adrian W said:

HoHoHo said:

tuffer said:

thinfourth2 said:

HHHHHHH said:

Munka01 said:

Jessops gone bust? Never pictured that happening....

Yep, the shutters are going up

I can see how this will develop

They just didn't get enough exposure, its been a steady slide.

Yeh, their depth of field was too narrow and they lost focus.

They needed to step it up

All this exposure can't do them any harm..

[Victor McDade]

Murph7355 said:

I wonder how much the govt felt they were "losing" with the LVCR loophole.

They estimated £140m a year .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/nov/09/cha...

[Pothole]

sparkythecat said:

mat777 said:

Fast forward 9 years, and we are ordering a new suite for the new house... and where else do we go? DFS/CSL sofas are all cheap and not made as well, and you cant really order a sofa suite on the internet.

Multiyork make very good sofas and have excellent aftersales service. The sofas we bought from them 9 years ago are as good as new.
They also have a store near you
http://www.multiyork.co.uk/

Or, at least, near your parents.

[mat777]

Pothole said:

sparkythecat said:

mat777 said:

Fast forward 9 years, and we are ordering a new suite for the new house... and where else do we go? DFS/CSL sofas are all cheap and not made as well, and you cant really order a sofa suite on the internet.

Multiyork make very good sofas and have excellent aftersales service. The sofas we bought from them 9 years ago are as good as new.
They also have a store near you
http://www.multiyork.co.uk/

Or, at least, near your parents.

Thanks for the link, I'll bear it in mind for next time - I know it wasnt very clear but my original post was meant to say 10 years ago we ordered the first one, 9 years later (last year) we ordered the new one - I had been writing in present tense to convey the "where else do we go?" and I can see that was a bit confusing now looking back on it

[singlecoil]

Grenoble said:

Sir Bagalot said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The internet is here to stay and unfortunately local councils haven't woken up to this fact. Car parking charges are too much and business rates are crippling stores.

Your forgot landlords with unrealistic expectations who are terrified of correctly valuing their portfolio.

This is the absolute essence of the problem. The rents (from which the rates derive) are too high.







On the subject of Jessops, I remember when they first became a serious force in camera retailing. How? Mail order and being the cheapest.

[lestag]

sjn2004 said:

Adrian W said:

HoHoHo said:

tuffer said:

thinfourth2 said:

HHHHHHH said:

Munka01 said:

Jessops gone bust? Never pictured that happening....

Yep, the shutters are going up

I can see how this will develop

They just didn't get enough exposure, its been a steady slide.

Yeh, their depth of field was too narrow and they lost focus.

They needed to step it up

All this exposure can't do them any harm..

Well, as has be said previously, it is a developing story, so you never know what company or person will come into the picture to rescue it. This online environment is clearly a new landscape for Jessops.

[croyde]

sjn2004 said:

Adrian W said:

HoHoHo said:

tuffer said:

thinfourth2 said:

HHHHHHH said:

Munka01 said:

Jessops gone bust? Never pictured that happening....

Yep, the shutters are going up

I can see how this will develop

They just didn't get enough exposure, its been a steady slide.

Yeh, their depth of field was too narrow and they lost focus.

They needed to step it up

All this exposure can't do them any harm..

I think they were framed when the colour temperature got too much

[Guffy]

croyde said:

sjn2004 said:

Adrian W said:

HoHoHo said:

tuffer said:

thinfourth2 said:

HHHHHHH said:

Munka01 said:

Jessops gone bust? Never pictured that happening....

Yep, the shutters are going up

I can see how this will develop

They just didn't get enough exposure, its been a steady slide.

Yeh, their depth of field was too narrow and they lost focus.

They needed to step it up

All this exposure can't do them any harm..

I think they were framed when the colour temperature got too much

Need to filter some of these replies.

[JonRB]

The puns are getting pretty tedious now guys.

[Hub]

They are a known brand so I expect that they could do alright as an online retailer of camera gear and photobooks, canvases etc rather than disappearing completely.

[Grenoble]

Hub said:

They are a known brand so I expect that they could do alright as an online retailer of camera gear and photobooks, canvases etc rather than disappearing completely.

I agree. I think there is value in the brand for someone like Tesco to pick up and utilise - despite the recent store issues it was quite a "high trust" brand. Online sales + maybe some sub store branding. Won't take them out of administration, though.

[jan50]

It's sad to hear people may lose their jobs.

It also highlights the fact that gift vouchers can be discarded whereas cash can't. I don't think i'll ever buy gift vouchers again and if I ever receive any I will spend them immediately rather than putting them in a drawer.