For UK Members - Possible Bad News for Jessops

[Steve Smith]

Saw this on another forum:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/713fcf30-4...nclick_check=1


Steve.

[Andy K]

Sadly I cannot say this is a surprise.

[Matt5791]

Exactly, no suprise. There is no way Jessops will be able to survive debts of £60M with the collossal overhead of 211 shops all selling gear for virtually no margin - Selling cameras and earning a tenner out of the deal is only a recipy for disaster.

My advise would be to immediately close virtually all those stores, concentrate on online and say 5 - 10 decent sized stores in London, Birmingham, Manchester etc etc. I wouldnt be suprised if they have to do this inorder to agree the debt restructuring.

It is very fruustrating because in the end Jessops is a very well known name, and if they followed the same sort of strategy as Warehouse Express I think they could do very well.

If they are reading this please contact me through my website for my management consultant services....

[Ian Grant]

I noticed an improvement in the local Jessops when I was in the UK, but they lost their way unfortunately. If you want 10 rolls of a film they can't supply them, sure they'll tell you were to get more rols from 6-9 other stores but at one time they'd get them for you in 24 hours. 6 months ago I wanted negative storage sheets they quoted 28 days delivery.

Stores can't afford to turn away and lose custom to competitors and unless they return to that level of service they provided under the Chairmanship of Tim Brookes they won't make a good comeback.

Ian

[Stan160]

I noticed an improvement in the local Jessops when I was in the UK, but they lost their way unfortunately. If you want 10 rolls of a film they can't supply them, sure they'll tell you were to get more rols from 6-9 other stores but at one time they'd get them for you in 24 hours. 6 months ago I wanted negative storage sheets they quoted 28 days delivery.

They have a fairly wide range of products on their web site, some can be ordered online and sent to a store of the purchasers choosing for pick up the next working day, with no delivery charge.

This combination of centralized ordering and stock control and what is still a large number of high street shops is something none of Jessops competitors can offer, but they throw away their advantage by excluding a significant proportion of products from the next day service, only offering 28 days.

Ian

[Tom Kershaw]

It is very fruustrating because in the end Jessops is a very well known name, and if they followed the same sort of strategy as Warehouse Express I think they could do very well.

Matt,

If Jessops have 211 stores and Warehouse Express have one showroom, following Warehouse Express's model would involve a dramatic contraction of Jessops current position as a prominent high street retailer. Although I've only visited Warehouse Express once for a camera bag, the service was good, not 'oh no, a customer'...

Tom.

addendum: Warehouse Express seem to have a good price on the Kodak E6 5 litre kit (£26.95)

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/prod...px?sku=1022130

[paul_c5x4]

If Jessops are indeed about to go to the wall, I'll visit the local store and stock up on FP4+ sheets (currently ~£16 a box).

[Ian David]

As far as film photographers are concerned, Jessops has been a waste of space, at least in London, for quite some time. They will go with my blessing...

[Steve Smith]

Up until a couple of months ago, they were the only shop I could actually go to and get film, paper, developer and fixer without getting on a boat and a train.

They barely have anything traditional in stock now though.



Steve.

[Tom Kershaw]

Up until a couple of months ago, they were the only shop I could actually go to and get film, paper, developer and fixer without getting on a boat and a train.

They barely have anything traditional in stock now though.



Steve.

Steve,

Do they have very erratic stock control? I find it difficult to imagine a sudden drop-off in demand over such a sort time frame.

Tom.