Sad day for Jessops
Posted on June 21, 2007 by Mark
Jessops, one of the UK’s most prominent photographic retailers, as today announced the closure of 81 stores, with the loss of 550 jobs.
My initial reaction is one of sadness. Although Jessops seem to employ a lot of people less than qualified to sell camera equipment, it’s always been a handy shop to pop into to view gear before you order it off the internet, or to pick up small items where the price differential with internet shops is less. (Sorry if that sounds heartless, but that’s just the way it is with Jessops. Of course, I feel very sorry for the poor individuals that will loose their jobs.)
This, I think, has been Jessops main problem over recent years: the vastly over-priced stock when compared to internet deals. Yes, I know running costs of shops are higher, but in this internet age you have to learn to be extremely competitive. Quite how Jessops could have avoided this I don’t know, but then that’s not my problem.
Reading today’s press release it appears that they have some ideas about how to progress the business, though it’s not going to be easy. In my opinion they need to really look at their pricing, and make it competitive with sites like Warehouse Express (even though they’re generally not in my good books) and Park Cameras. I’m still not sure how the stores can be viable in this market, but then again there are a lot of people still who like to go to a store to buy something than order it online (even if it does cost them more….).
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens with Jessops in the future. I thought I read somewhere that they were going to be purchased by some other retail chain, but can’t remember the details on that one…
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4 Responses to “Sad day for Jessops”
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I am one of those lucky individuals who will be loosing my job after 6 years of service.
The problem with jessops i have to say comes from the people in power.
when i started it was a fantastic place to work, we had training packs ever wednesday dealing with things such as product knowledge, customer service, and different photographic techniques, these ceased appearing about a year ago and it was never explained why.
I believe that the company has been in decline since derek heine left and chris langley took over.
We started to recieve less and less stock in store which obviousally infuriates customers, especially when you tell someone that something will be in stock in a week and it doesent turn up for two months.
They made a lot of bad decisions on the camera’s that were brought, when the canon eos 400d was launched i think it was something silly like 1000 units were brought bearing in mind that amount is to be divided into all 300+ stores and cover web orders.
This is a continual problem that has had a detrimental effect on the company.
Customer service also seems to have gone out of the window over the last 6 months.
We have had dozens of people just walk out because we don’t have the items they want in stock.
Obviousally the internet has had a bad impact on jessops, but i’m sure with the reputation the company used to have they could have struck deals with the big names such as nikon and canon, and that way reduced prices in store.
As to the closures, my store is to be shut but as yet no one seems to know when, it could be next week, or next month but typical jessops no one seems to be able to give us a straight anwser.
we have over 26 years of experiance with jessops between myself and my other 5 members of staff but that dosen’t seem to count for anything nowadays.
All i can say is i’m looking forward to my mortgage payments over the coming months…….
Thanks for your remarks, Taylor. I’m very sorry to hear about the situation you and your colleagues are in; it really is a shame that what was once such a great store has gone the way it has.
I used to live in Birmingham and as I remember they had a great store up there. The staff were good (in fact even today they usually try to be helpful, even if they don’t have the technical knowledge), and the store was well stocked with gear for all types of market (amateur, pro, consumer etc).
Anyway, I hope the future brings you more fortune.
I also used to work at Jessops. Check out my various blog posts (photobymarkdavey.blogspot.com) on the subject of the firm’s financial performance.
CEO Chris Langley came from Dixons, no half decent snapper would have ever shopped there! & Look what happened to them (Dixons).
I was an employee of Jessops for over 13 years and back in 1987 when I started, it was always a good employer-though not exactly the best payer.
Since Alan Jessop left and there was a transfer of ownership, things started to decline. A mean style of management combined with unrealistic targets disguised as “Budgets” and a lack of stock all came to a head and I left in 2000.
They continued to expand at a ridiculous rate,switched over to Digital Photography too quickly, scrapped the Used Equipment Department and thereby stopped an awful lot of customers from
using them for the possibilty of a smooth transition from film to Digital.
Coupled with an even more extreme situation of lack of stock ( a serious problem before I left) and a significant decline in the knowledge of the staff, their raison d’etre had suddenly ceased.
If I wanted to purchase a DSLR, would I be prepared to wait weeks and pay more at Jessops or turn to one of their on-line competitiors-assuming I had an idea of what I wanted-and receive my DSLR within a couple of days at a rock-bottom price.
In all honesty, price isn’t the be all and end all with me but stock availability is-if it isn’t there then I can’t buy it!
Imagine that scenario being replicated up and down the country hundreds of times a day.
There was also too much overlap,my home city for example has THREE Jessop branches and I’m not exactly talking London here-Wolverhampton to be precise.
I’m sorry for the staff losing their jobs but it will be interesting to see as soon as this creative acounting episode kicks them back into profit, whaT RENUMERATION PACKAGE the Board vote themselves, rewards for failure which shouldn’t have happened in the first place.