Jessops gone. Who's next?

Give a person 10 pounds to spend, and the person he spends it with will in turn have 10 pounds to spend. That person in turn has 10 pound to spends and so one. Dont give the first 10 pounds then there are a whole lot of 10 pounds not being spent.and places like Jerssop go under. The people who worked at Jessop will now have no money to spend and so the downward spiral continues. You dont plant less corn in the hope of getting a better harvest and solving a food shortage problem.

Places like Jessops go under because technology drove them under, the surprise is they lasted this long. How many people now take photos with a phone and how many can claim to have printed off a photo in the last year. The market for their product died years ago, they failed to grasp the change and died.

As for who is next, look towards the sale of DVDs and CDs massively in decline, unless there is a big change how about HMV

whsmith bought into lots of post office deals so saving themselves for the time being

EKGO wrote (see)

Places like Jessops go under because technology drove them under, the surprise is they lasted this long. How many people now take photos with a phone and how many can claim to have printed off a photo in the last year. The market for their product died years ago, they failed to grasp the change and died.

 

They aimed at a different market to the phone camera market. Their main market was the proper photography enthusiast with DSLRs and the numerous lenses. What killed them was the real camera enthusiast could find the lenses and cameras online for a fraction of the price along with plenty of review information on the products.

I bet it ain't Waitrose....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2205975/Waitrose-Twitter-backlash-I-shop-Waitrose--I-dont-like-surrounded-poor-people.html

Eggyh73 wrote (see)

EKGO wrote (see)

Places like Jessops go under because technology drove them under, the surprise is they lasted this long. How many people now take photos with a phone and how many can claim to have printed off a photo in the last year. The market for their product died years ago, they failed to grasp the change and died.

 

They aimed at a different market to the phone camera market. Their main market was the proper photography enthusiast with DSLRs and the numerous lenses. What killed them was the real camera enthusiast could find the lenses and cameras online for a fraction of the price along with plenty of review information on the products.

^^ this, buying 2 lenses alone saved me over £500 by shopping online, i'll buy local if i can but those kind of savings i cant ignore, jessops were massively overpriced, even local independant places were much much cheaper.

Running specialist stores. I know of 8 stores around the Uk that are currently for sale, I also know of a handful more that are considering closing at the end of the tax year.

Just like Jessops the stores are being killed by online pricing. 

I blame Article 110 Treaty Functioning European Union for preventing Britain from promoting trade of domestic made goods. 

Jessops has been propped up couple of times over the last few years, hans't?  I'm sure I recall HSBC chucking about £20M at them not long ago.  However, their demise still leaves me feeling a little bit sad.  I've bought a fair bit of gear from them over the last ten years, and have always had excellent advice from them, especially when I was getting in to developing my own film.  I never found their prices to be far off best internet price, particularly when buying pro-range gear.

Next?  Blacks & HMV must be on watch, and I wonder if Currys/PC World has much longer than 5 years left.  Any idea what type of shop WHSmith's is?  It used to be a newsagent, but now?

I suspect Play.com could pale in to insignificance now that they've stopped retailing their own stock.

The simple fact is that town centres are far too big these days.  Most towns can get by with about 20 shops.  Even M&S carries reduced stock - just enough so that people can try on before buying from the M&S site.

My money is on HMV and DW sports, because like Jessops they do not see the need to change, and although I see no risk, now is the time to cash in on the Next share price

Inter - WHSmiths is a newsagent/bookstore/stationers that also sells board games a bit of crafty stuff and the Kobo range of ereaders.    The bigger shops in town centres are anyway - the smaller ones at stations etc are just newsagents that do a few books and snack food I think ?    

I tried to do all my xmas shopping locally last year and smiths didn't seem too bad - compared the HMV which was a real dogs dinner of a shop - felt almost like a temporary clearance outfit.   

I'm actually buying less online and more in shops simply because you can see what you are getting, it's often easier to return if you need to and prices aren't very different.  

Who has a Kobo though? Everyone I know with an e-reader has a Kindle. No point in being late with that sort of technology and, as one analyst said, everyone else who sells the stuff they also sell does it better.

I still think WHS is on a slippery slope.

BTW if the Daily Fail thinks that's a backlash regarding Waitrose, it clearly doesn't know what a backlash is.

Screamapillar wrote (see)

Who has a Kobo though?

Well my other half has one !    Obviously books are a challenging market to be in but apart from Amazon has anyone in that line of business done any better ?  

"I still think WHS is on a slippery slope."

I would disagree. WHS have re-invented themselves from being primarily a bookseller into being a general convenience shop where you buy all the things of daily life

what do they sell??  newspapers, magazines, sandwiches and chocs,  discounted books, stationary, birthday etc cards, packaging material etc.   these are all things that are instant buys and usually stuff that is used immediately - not the sort of stuff you buy from the internet.

their t/o for 2012 is c£1.2billion - although sales are slightly down, GP is up 10% to oevr £100M with over £30M cash in the bank.  

they sound more like a takeover target than a failing company in my eyes

WHS also have the distribution arm which I presume is still very viable?

whenever i buy something there I'm usually given a handful of time-restricted vouchers (£10 off kids books etc, 10% off my next spend etc) which suggests they're trying to build brand loyalty and increase repeat visits

You have Amazon trading out of Luxembourg and charging 3% VAT.

You have Jessops trading from the high streets and having to charge 20% VAT.

Is it any surprise Jessops have gone?

I'm surprised retail stores aren't making far more fuss about Amazon and other "offshore" companies trading here via the internet but being able to charge far lower prices due to being able to engage a lower VAT rate. It needs something done about it swiftly.

I have boycotted Amazon for any more purchases in recent months and will continue to do so until there's a level playing field on the VAT front. They are destroying our home-grown retail outlets and costing thousands of jobs.

Colin McLaughlin wrote (see)

. It needs something done about it swiftly.

 

They have.. Jessops have gone bust so thats less competition

WHS have just opened up a new shop near me.  They must make money on magazines and impulse buying sweets I guess. 

Hang on that makes it sound like its all my purchases thats keeping them going !