Jessops

[Derelict-UK]

When I hear the press about them being the last remaining British camera retail chain I think what a load of b*llocks, nowadays there are hundreds of British camera retailers but they've all had the sense to sell online from a single (or just a handful of) warehouse premises to avoid the massive overheads associated with running hundreds of shops. Corporate Darwinism.

I think they probably mean High Street chain, although that is still bollocks as there is Wilkinson Cameras up north.

 

[night crawler]

There is also London Camera Exchange and Park Cameras which I use.

 

[jhluxton]

I must admit to being a little sad to see Jessops run onto the retail rocks having once made much use of their services many years back.

However, the company has been suffering a lingering death for some years and it is surprising they have managed to keep going so long.

Their problems go back a long way - way before the arrival of the mutifunction devices such as tablets and mobiles with their built in cameras. These really only appeal to the former happy snappy amateurs who probably only bought a budget camera from a chemists back in film days of a budget digital from a supermarket or electrical chain store.

Jessops were once the serious amateur and professionals outlet. They became too mass market when that market started to evaporate they lost business.

Jessops really built their reputation in the late 70s and early 80s when they used to have a great couple of pages of some of the best prices on non grey imports in the UK posted weekly in Amateur Photographer.

They would also mail you their price list which was crammed with bargains when I first got into serious photography in my late teens I was a regular mail order customer. They had the best prices on bulk buy Agfa CT18/21 processed paid slide film that you could get.

Back then they just had a big dealership in Leicester without all the high street branches that they subsequently acquired.

Bristol was I think their first branch located at Clifton went there a few times on my trips down west country. But as the number of branches increased the discounts decreased - it was going that way even before the internet really became established. My last major purchase from them was 1996/7 when I bought the Contax rangefinder gear - my last 35mm outfit, by then they were losing the edge on price discounts.

As they moved to the web Jessops also appeared to reduce the range of cameras / accessories sold not stocking everything produced by certain manufacturers and even giving up completely on some products at least in the Liverpool store. Last time I went in there was around 2005 when I was looking for a Billingham bag for a colleagues retirement present. I recall they once stocked the complete range of Billingham bags and had bought my first from their Bristol shop in 1982, I think in 2005 they had virtually none. I see some are still listed on the web site - but there isn't the complete range.

I sometimes wonder if they might have survived - their original mail order model would have transferred well to the web without the expense of all the high street branches in towns throughout the land. Whilst a few well stocked regional branches would have been okay going mass market just made things difficult in the end.

 

[shatners]

Im sad to see them go, mainly because the manager of our local store was fairly liberal on his price matching which meant I could go pick things up same day rather than risk kit getting battered in the post and he would match most online prices providing they were not dodgy grey import deals.

I think their biggest problem is they had nothing to offer the phtographer, it was all geared towards point and shoot consumers. I cant go to Sheffield without going into Harrison Cameras and gazing longingly at all their Canon kit, high end bodies, specialist lenses, L series kit, second hand bargains, really good trade in scheme and walls of accessories where as Jessops I would never even go through the door because it was the inevitable glass cabinet of basic DSLR bodies with low end kit lenses...it was no different to looking at the camera section in Currys... meh.

Sad to see them go, and really sorry for the guys who work there... its a **** time to be out of work.

 

[fragglehunter]

We are lucky in Bolton to have two cracking photography shops left http://www.mathersoflancashire.co.uk/ and http://www.fotosense.co.uk/ in addition to Jessops, we did have another called Wildings which sadly fell by the wayside.

I did do all my printing at Jessops, but I found a lot of the bits (caps/filters etc) very over priced and to be honest our local branch had become nothing but a showroom/orderpoint with printshop and bugger all stock.

 

[explorer101]

Jessops has officially closed

 

[cogito]

http://www.bjp-online.com/british-j.../administrators-shuts-down-all-jessops-stores

 

[krela]

If you have got groupon vouchers for memory cards that you have not yet redeemed you may well be able to get a refund from groupon as they don't pay the supplier for the deal until the voucher is redeemed.

 

[mookster]

So now Oxford has zero camera shops.

Luckily Reading has a London Camera Exhange and an independent shop called Station Cameras, where I got my second-hand but mint Canon zoom lens late last year...

 

[flyboys90]

R.I.P etc

 

[megaangelic]

They have been going out of business for years, a friend of mine was made redundant in their first round of store closures 6 years ago, the internet is just so much cheaper.

 

[Ace5150]

Can't say Im sorry. Jessops rounded up all the small independant stores that had knowledgeable and informative staff that knew their stuff. They got rid of the majority of those staff and replaced them with staff whos sole objective was to boost sales. Last week, I brought a canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens for £79.99 from Argos...........the exact same one at Jessops was £104.99, you can't justify that!
Coventry has a small independant shop whos staff are very good, and has an excellent reputation.....I use them every time I need advice.

 

[wirelessmast]

Never gonna happen! If the company is sold the new owner will collect the debt, otherwise if the company is wound down your debt will be sold on to a third party company who will collect it.

Just a spot of wishful thinking

The debt officially is with V12 finance, but hey, Sony are giving me £50 cash back

Interestingly its the first time ive ever had a courtesy call from a finance company checking everything arrived and im happy with it!

Seems im officially one of the last customers. Real shame theyve gone, dont think theres any camera shops within 40miles of me now, the independant i used to use in Leeds closed years back

 

[wirelessmast]

Jessops really built their reputation in the late 70s and early 80s when they used to have a great couple of pages of some of the best prices on non grey imports in the UK posted weekly in Amateur Photographer.

They would also mail you their price list which was crammed with bargains when I first got into serious photography in my late teens I was a regular mail order customer. They had the best prices on bulk buy Agfa CT18/21 processed paid slide film that you could get.

Back then they just had a big dealership in Leicester without all the high street branches that they subsequently acquired.

Years ago, in the late 80s when i first got into electronics, Maplin had exactly the same business model. One massive warehouse (Rayleigh in Essex, then Barnsley), one shop, and the rest mail order. Their catalogue was more of a technical manual and something we looked forward to getting. Then they started opening shops everywhere. For a while they still concentrated on the hobbiest, and it was still great rummaging the boxes of stock in the shops. But then they went PCs and gimmicky toys, mass market tat, and overpriced. They lost the knowledgable hobbiest staff in favour of student part timers with no interest and no idea. You have to check every component you buy in there now. Theyve lost the electronics hobbiest to the remaining specialist shops and to ebay.

I can seriously see Maplin going to the wall as well this year. Its just a fundamental failure to see the writing on the wall and adapt accordingly.

 

[Goldie87]

Its a shame to see another local company go, their head office is only down the road from me. Having said that they were pretty crap, I always preferred to go Jacobs instead. Went Jessops for something before Christmas, they said they had it in stock and made us stand around for ages, before telling us they actually didn't have it. They then offered a display model, but we couldn't have any discount on it. Ended up just walking out in the end.

 

[sYnc_below]

They've sucked for ages and deserve it by not adapting.

(Park Camera's suck too btw)

try WEX

 

[nelly]

Sadly Jessops has gone the same way as all the retail outlets, us oldies will remember them demise of butchers shops, green grocers and the like, the interweb has ****** high street shopping and as long as buyers demand a cheap price then it will always be so, 10 years into the future the only stores that will exist will be the "buy my shopping store", tescos, asda etc....

Take Comet, I like many others used Comet like an Argos catalogue, go and have a look, feel the product and then buy it online and save £200.

Its sad but it is consumer economics

 

[harriethorne]

I'll miss Jessops.
The branch we had in Leicester was amazing!
The guys there were always helpful and fixed anything that went wrong or if I had a problem.
I'm sad that they've lost there jobs. and to everyone else who has.
but there really arn't any other actual camera shops anymore now. which is a shame. because like someone said relying on the postman isn't always good. Plus you wanna see what you're buying. Well I do.

 

[magmo]

Years ago, in the late 80s when i first got into electronics, Maplin had exactly the same business model. One massive warehouse (Rayleigh in Essex, then Barnsley), one shop, and the rest mail order. Their catalogue was more of a technical manual and something we looked forward

I can seriously see Maplin going to the wall as well this year. Its just a fundamental failure to see the writing on the wall and adapt accordingly.

I can see Maplin coing that way this year, you only have to go in to see how quiet it is. A little while ago I found a Maplin Catalouge from the 80's... It was a great read....

 

[12quidkidinnit]

The scary thing is, if the economy carries on like this, all we'll be left with soon, is Tescos, Halfords and Burger King. Some shops are internet proof, such as barbers shops and hairdressers, as you can't get a mail order haircut. I suppose funeral directors will still do alright, unless someone invents virtual funerals, where everyone stays at home and attends the service via skype.

I've always found Jessops expensive. I used them as a means of sussing out some lens options, then I sourced one cheaper online.