Jessops in Administration

[Ian Grant]

As someone said on another analogue site, called FADU and with a lot of members in the U.K. it's the speed with which this happened that seems strange. It is just after Christmas when such a chain might have expected to have done enough business to allow a review and yet it has gone from administration about a week ago to all stores closed yesterday.

Even Comet in the U.K. was able to give about 2 months notice of closure and under U.K. law the company has to have a 90 day consultation period with its workforce during which it has to pay its employees so why not sell stock and conduct an orderly closure?

There seems something strange in the way it has gone over the cliff at this speed. More to the whole end game than meets the eye I suspect but what that might be I have no idea. A great shame for all its employees. Losing your job with no notice is bad enough at any time but just after Christmas has to be one of the worst times

pentaxuser

Don't forget they escaped by the skin of their teeth in 2009, it's their suppliers who said enoungh is enouigh. The last management team made thingseven worse, they tried to follow the Dixons model, but Dixon's had also sold reasonable HI Fi.

Ian

[batwister]

That's rather harsh, given that there are likely many hard-working people who are going to lose their jobs in the next week or two.

There's good and bad staff in any organisation, but, like-it-or-not, the fact is that Jessop have been a "digital store" for quite some years. The management chose way for the company and, if staff (and young staff in particular, who may never have used film) have not been trained in analogue, you can't blame the staff.

People generally like to learn about what they're buying face to face, if the human facility to do so is there? When people can only get their information online, they buy online.
I don't doubt the staff were hard working, but with jobs like gold dust, they will work hard at any job they can get. The problem I see is that the work didn't require sharing knowledge and enthusing their zombie-like customers.

Why have people have given up on sharing information in person? It would be interesting to see the number of in store returns vs online, because I feel their famous full refund policy is fueled by how ill-informed their in store customers are.

This relating to the job problem; being a graduate myself and looking for any kind of work at the minute, I enquired about several jobs in person today. I spoke to one manager who was very friendly and talkative, who told me I have to look for vacancies online. "But I'm right in front of you?" At another place down the road from me, a member of staff told me "not at the moment". Looking on the direct.gov website tonight - what do you know - they have vacancies. You cannot give people your CV anymore. CVs are narrowed down with keywording and job hunting like the lottery. All because people have let automation beat their wits.

I still feel speaking to people in person is the only way you can get anything. But Christ, you really have to drag it out of them.

[MattKing]

People generally like to learn about what they're buying face to face, if the human facility to do so is there? When people can only get their information online, they buy online.

It may be different in the UK, but over here the photographic stores have the same problem as the electronics stores.

People go to the local stores to see, handle and learn about things, and then buy them from someone else through the internet.

Except where their stores cut their margins to compete with the low overhead internet sellers, in which case they don't make money on the sales.

[Ian Grant]

Actually this happened before the Internet as well. The big mail order companies hit the small photo shops quite badly we tend to forget this.

Ian

[Steve Smith]

That's true to a point but the stores also have an internet presence and before that, mail order advertisements.

e.g. Dixons used to advertise everywhere and you could buy by mail order.






Steve.

[railwayman3]

Actually this happened before the Internet as well. The big mail order companies hit the small photo shops quite badly we tend to forget this.

Ian

Jessops did a lot of very efficient mail order....I recall their large folded lists in tiny print, which seemed to include every conceivable product from every manufacturer, many of which also undercut the list prices which the small shops charged. As you say, other big companies seemed to follow (Jacobs comes to mind? And some selling just film with discounts for bulk buys.).

[perkeleellinen]

Way before the internet I was buying most of my film mail order in packs of 10

[Alan Johnson]

I don't think it's the end of DSLR sales on the UK high street, Currys still sell them but they probably won't carry small stocks of film like Jessops did.

[MortyCapp]

Here in Putney they were very capable and delivered excellent service. Shame.

[Brac]

I can remember Jessops when it was just one small and very busy shop in Leicester (originally a chemist). Then they opened bigger premises in the city and carried a vast stock which was also available mail order. They used to print a catalogue which had so much stuff listed you needed a magnifying glass to read the small print. I made a special trip there in the late 1970's to buy my Vivitar enlarger. Later they expanded and got taken over by someone else and gradually it went all down hill. I feel sorry for the staff but I don't think the stores will be much missed. However, as others have said, by buying up and closing so many independents they have reduced choice for everyone.

As for their stock, apparently they are recalling it to a central warehouse where it will be offered back to the supplying companies, where possible. This contrasts with Comet where they had closing down sales where stuff gradually got cheaper until each branch was closed.