yet another retailer goes under

<p>A few months back I bemoaned that one of our last camera shops (Jacobs) had closed down.<br>

Today I read that one of the biggest camera retailers in the country - Jessops - has now gone into administration.<br>

Almost certainly as before, this because<br>

a. less interest in 'specialist' equipment such as DSLR these days<br>

b. people buy via internet instead of through shops<br>

OK I'm guilty too - I bought my D600 from Amazon..</p>

<p>I see this is a long-term story for the chain, they were close to this point in 2009 before getting some capital to keep going. Its a tough business model these days - not much differentiation between sellers.</p>

<p>More accurately because they either did not have or did not implement a plan B. Other retailers are surviving, mainly because they have identified where their business does well and worked on that area of the market. Jessops have basically rolled on trying to be all things to all people without being particularly good at any one thing. Unless retailers realise that they have to react to the market they will not survive. Without the guiding hand of someone like Alan Jessop at the helm this chain was always struggling because the people (banks, accountants etc.) that were in charge just didn't understand the market they were in. Same went for Tecno by the way! </p>

<p>Yes, I saw the news about Jessops today. I think it is more likely to be the internet that is to blame for Jessops' fall added to by the general slump in high street shop sales. I have not bought anything photographic over the counter for quite a time now. The last time I walked through my local high street I was shocked by how many premises were closed or occupied by Pound Shops or Betting Shops.</p>

 

<p>Interesting. I spoke with the owner of my local photo camera store this Christmas season and he said this was one of the best years he's ever had. He's not a chain, just one store, so his experience is very different from the larger retailers. It's somewhat more amazing too because Best Buy is in the same parking lot.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I think it inevitable that bricks and mortar outlets will go under if they fail to compete on price nor provide a USP that justifies their higher price.</p>

<p>Look at Apple. Their offer is that the price is right and they provide a superb experience in their shops, ranging from having plenty of demonstration kit, which they encourage visitors to use, to providing very high standards of service and support.</p>

<p>A very few photo retailers have used the same model as Apple: <a href="http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/">Grays of Westminster</a> is one example and <a href="http://www.reddotcameras.co.uk/">Red Dot Cameras</a> is another. Most though, are behaving as commodity sellers and that just doesn't seem to be a valid model in the UK any more. </p>

<p>Jessops were the only nationwide camera retailer in the UK, without them there is only the internet or whatever you can find in supermarkets or shops like John Lewis. Jessops never recovered from the changeover from film to digital, people came in to get film developed, bought more film, looked at new camera gear and probably bought other odds and ends too. </p>

<p>More recently people looked at cameras at Jessops, then went home to buy the same item for a few pounds less from the internet. In this day and age Jessops could not make enough profit to cover their overheads:</p>

<p>(1) if you are renting expensive premises in prime locations in major towns/cities, your online competitors can operate from a warehouse somewhere much cheaper.</p>

<p>(2) Staffing Levels and Training. Jessops needed a lot of staff with product training to deal with customers enquiries, demonstrate products etc. That took a lot of expensive staff time. Online, you either buy from a website with no direct human contact or tell someone what you want, pay for it, much less staff cost/time than high street selling.</p>

<p>(3) Business Rates, as mentioned before, these are high for retailers with good locations with that money being taken off them and then spent by councils to support their administration costs. Lower rates are needed to help high street retailers survive, if that means that councils need to cut their size and staffing, then so be it. My own local council don't even clean the local streets or pavements, I guess that department could be closed down with some cost saving. And any time it snows, well, don't expect the roads to be cleared or pavements either!</p>

 

<p>+1 Tony L</p>

<p>I could see Jessops's demise coming. They haven't catered adequately for the enthusiast for sometime. The only time I go in a store is when I get a gift voucher, and its hard to find anything I'm interested in.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Lesson learned: If you value your local camera shop, buy from them. I wouldn't want mine to go away any time soon, that's for sure.</p>

<p>Amazon and other web sites are so quick and easy to buy from it is obvious the highstreet shop is redundant ...I have waited weeks for an item to come via retailer and wholesaler whereas on the net is is usually a matter of days even from across the other side of the world.</p>

<p>One place I am suspicious of and that is the UK ... UKP8 postage on a pair of slitting saw blades 20mm diameter which could have fitted in an ordinary envolope which is expensive enough anyway and I didn't have to sign for its arrival .. frankly I will buy from the States not the UK if I can. Plus stuff coming from the UK seems to take much longer than from the States or Hong Kong. Airmail used to be a couple of days from the UK ... now it is much more expensive and much slower.</p>

<p>As I have been away from the UK for 5 years where is a good place to go for camera gear on the high street? Jessops wasn't rocking not good to see it go though.</p>

<p>I have tried to use Jessops. They were a big help to me when I started getting serious about photography in the 90's.</p>

<p>When I got back into it a couple of years back I was really disappointed with the Jessops experience. They seem solely to cater for the average Joe who wants a starter kit. The shops hold almost no stock, and nothing specialised.</p>

<p>My recent experiences:</p>

<p>Christmas 2011 - £20 Jessops gift voucher - wanted a shoot through umbrella - "I'm sorry sir, we only sell them as part of this entry level studio starter kit for £200ish" - Ended up putting towards a bag I didn't really want.</p>

<p>Birthday 2012 - £20 Jessops gift voucher - wanted a flash/umbrella holder for my lighting stand - "I'm sorry sir, we don't keep those in stock, but I could get one here by next week. I can't tell you whether it will fit your stand" - Ended up putting it towards a UV filter.</p>

<p>This Christmas - £20 Jessops gift voucher - might as well bin that then.....</p>

<p>However, for me all is not lost. I am lucky to live near a rapidly expanding and highly successful store called Park Cameras. They have a wonderful store with almost everything you'd ever want, knowledgeable enthusiastic staff, and a strong web presence. They are slightly more expensive than Amazon etc, but I don't mind that one bit.</p>

<p>It is still possible to do well; Jessops just lost their way unfortunately.</p>

 

@Allan Jamieson,

What about LCE, Park Cameras, Castle Cameras not to

mention all the independents around the country. OK

so not national outlets as such but certainly not

supermarkets or John Lewis, all give good service,

good prices and have actual shops where you can

handle goods. Support your local dealer!

<p>None of these companies are local to me, I live in the middle of Scotland and believe me apart from a few small independent stores, Jessops were the only store in town with a good range of stock. There are plenty of good independent camera retailers but they operate for most people as online dealers unless you are lucky enough to live close to them. Nearest one that I can think of in Scotland is Ffordes in Beauly, Invernesshire, only about 4 hours drive, most of the other large independents are down in England.</p>

My last experience of visiting a Jessops was of a shop full of hanging packs of memory cards, printing machines (self-

service) and racks of bags resembling a crowded coat stand.

There were glass cases containing some cameras but the staff were unwilling to open them without a clear sign you

were going to buy. They had little knowledge and worse still displayed less interest........they could have been selling

power tools or greetings cards!

Clearly, staff training was an investment too far for Jessops and with staff turnover so high it is a wasted effort

anyway. I might as well have bought from Argos catalogue store next door for all the interest they had. When I buy

photo gear I want to deal with a guy who is as enthusiastic as me. That's where my money patronage goes. I won't

miss them because a real specialist shop will take their place, perhaps not in the high street but if Park, Grays, Robert

White, et al can work and with a web and bricks/mortar presence ......

 

The biggest culprit wrt failing stores is the two-pronged fork of council business rates and distant property owners

charging way too much on their thousands strong portfolios. They have shareholders, share prices, profit levels to

protect ...... It goes on and on.

 

Clearly, outside of phones photography isn't a mainstream persuit. It's just the way it is. In days of old I wonder if the

broad use of film cameras and shops was because .... well there was no other choice. Now everyone has a PC, a

phone camera and simply don't print. Images are mailed, stored on google or flickr and live, and often die, on hard

drives.

 

The relatively small number of true enthusiasts that cluster at sites like this are not going to keep a national chain like Jessops afloat, and nobody else, including Jessops' staff seem to care anyway. Shame.

<p>The Apple analogy is not entirely appropriate. You can't visit the Apple Store then go home and buy an iPad cheaper online. If anything, Apple has a lot to do with the demise of photo stores.</p>

<p>Kind of agree with some of what Clive said, Jessops were a much better shop in the 1990's, the Glasgow branch in Sauchiehall Street was big, two floors, lots of stuff to see and usually busy. Then post film, shopping habits changed, less experienced staff to talk to and get advice from, that shop shrunk to one floor open and became a lot less interesting to browse and I visited it less and less. I feel sorry for the staff, someone might buy the brand name but chances are that most of the current stories will be closed.</p>

<p>The other sad thing is that most of the items shops like Jessops sell are made in Asia, we could make some of these items in Europe but minimum wage legislation means that this will never happen. No one wants people to be exploited but it is sad to see so many young people out of work, surely better to have them doing something and earning a wage, than sitting at home unemployed learning nothing. We all want the nice things in life but sometimes I wonder if politicians think all this stuff through before rubber stamping everything that the EU spouts out. Showing my age here, when I was 16 years old I worked part time in the local Safeways store, earning the stupendous sum of £0.93 per hour. I still worked hard there and bought my first car from my work there. I didn't feel exploited, you worked and you earned, you didn't work, you didn't earn; simple really. Now the politicians in Scotland want to push through the so called Living Wage which is even higher than the minimum wage. Nice in theory if money is free but private companies have to work very hard to survive these days. Not that long ago I had a business which employed 6 people, it took everything I had to keep that going, to the point when I wasn't even earning the minimum wage myself as I had to pay part time staff "Holiday Pay", plus a high rent, VAT on Turnover, not profits etc. With issues like that to address I am in no rush to ever employ anyone again and people should expect to see more businesses like Jessops buckling under this kind of pressure. Trouble is most of our political leaders have rarely ever had a real job (i.e. non public sector) and don't really understand what it is to run a business, all they want is more money out of all of us.</p>

Ironically, not so long ago there was an outcry about large companies like Comet, Woolworth, Clinton Cards, Thorntons

etc making our High streets indistinguishable across the country. Now every main street across the land has the same

scene ... 'To Let' in many windows.

 

Everything changes yet stays the same. Independents will never survive with the present taxation state. This stone has no blood left in it!

<p>I remember the days of the independent retailers, where the people behind the counter were enthusiasts. Those days have gone, sadly, and the big retail chains took over. Now, the web-based retailer is in the ascendant while the High Street declines.</p>

<p><em>One place I am suspicious of and that is the UK ... UKP8 postage on a pair of slitting saw blades 20mm diameter which could have fitted in an ordinary envolope which is expensive enough anyway and I didn't have to sign for its arrival .. frankly I will buy from the States not the UK if I can. Plus stuff coming from the UK seems to take much longer than from the States or Hong Kong. Airmail used to be a couple of days from the UK ... now it is much more expensive and much slower.</em><br>

Sadly true - the Royal Mail charges domestic customers less and foreign customers more. NEVER have anything posted from the UK without insurance and tracking - it will "disappear". UK customs are pretty laid back - I've been waiting for a package from the US - I tracked it to the UK where it arrived in customs on Jan 2 - been waiting for clearance ever since!</p>