Jacobs Photographic - the news gets worse

Speaking of Calumet, anyone else noticed that they are a lot more competitive with their prices these days?
 
no real surpise there - they had too many shops and not enough input into the online side of things. They could have shut some shops to save cash and invested more into their online side of things.
 
I very much doubt it. When you have contracts with MoD and the like.
 
MARK AMIES said:
I very much doubt it. When you have contracts with MoD and the like.
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That and, they're a place that -everyone- trusts.

They closed a couple of stores a couple of years ago, sadly leaving the east midlands with NO hire centres, but hopefully they'll be strong for years to come, they certainly specialise in the biggggg contracts...
 
I have stopped going to Calumet in Brum due to their change of premises and the fact the staff were nothing but downright rude to me...I only wanted to spend the best part of £20K with them. They talked down to me the moment I walked through the door, simply because I rode my bike there. I have had an account with them for over 20 years, but I was so incensed at how I was spoken to I closed it there and then. Fixation do me proud, and have done from time to time over the years too.
 
Well this is the wonderful thing about competition - you have a choice.

Problem is that with Jacobs going , it has reduced choice.

I am sure someone will mention on-line dealers,and yes, of course that is correct. :)
 
Very Bad News for the industry and the staff. Lack of competition leads to stagnation in retailing.

Not to mention the fact that Jacobs always did some very good deals at Focus every year, its going to seem a bit vacent there in future without them hiding the reductions til lthe last minute and all the other dealers trying to match.

Thoughts with the staff who have been more than helpful in the past at the branches I have dealt with, and in the Pro Lounge in New Oxford Street, where there was always coffee and a laugh between jobs on the streets of London, especially on rainy days!
 
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Yes Richard , tha is a jolly good point - Focus and SWPP's convention - Jacobs could be guaranteed to be there with big queues.

Shame. Bloody rotten shame.
 
Although opinion and reports are indicating tough times in retail, in Jacobs case they still seem to overlook the handsome Director Payments AND a large Dividend payout in 2011, leaving sod all in the bank account. If the Directors have been preferencing themselves over their creditors then I'd be interested to know what's going to happen to them (as if we can't already guess).
 
POAH said:
no real surpise there - they had too many shops and not enough input into the online side of things. They could have shut some shops to save cash and invested more into their online side of things.
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Difficult to close shops if you're still liable for the rent, rates and service charge.
 
I can't see any sense going forwards in having a 'shop' people can enter for such goods as cameras, especially higher end ones

No-one pops in to try-before-you-buy a DSLR - cos you can't unless they stick a card in it and give you a week to shoot and PP the images, and then give you a couple of others too to compare with. So you do what everyone does and read reviews online

Some other shops now get criticised for staff knowing sod all about cameras and being generally unhelpful to queries, but that's the way it goes now - only the largely ignorant snapper needs any advice. A pal of mine in Jessops overhead someone asking about a camera and her main concern.... "Does it come in white" :LOL:

It'll ALL be online only soon - wait n see

Dave
 
I think the tipping point was Focus, with no 5dmk3/D800/D4/1DX to sell most people were waiting.

They used to do a massive percentage of annual turnover at the show, van loads every night would arrive to restock, this year there wasn't anything in stock that was selling bucket loads.

Wonder if we will see WEX in there place at the show next year?

Does this mean the end of Jacobs, or will they continue as an online retailer?
 
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I've not seen any official report of them going into liquidation so I would say that despite the closures they are still in administration and can therefore return to normal trading if it becomes feasible.

If the debts are massive (i.e. HMRC) or if they were tied in to unfavourable lease agreements with rent etc then they could always Phoenix and so long as they don't ditch any of the suppliers that they'll need going forward then that would give them a clean start. I haven't seen any new companies registered by the Directors though.

Their accounts did show profit, although I suspect it wasn't enough to cover balance sheet payments so they probably had a cash flow problem. This may suggest that they've got a reasonably good selling model in place, perhaps due to their name, and therefore going online only may just work for them as the name will help promote a certain degree of trust with online shoppers.
 
gman said:
Speaking of Calumet, anyone else noticed that they are a lot more competitive with their prices these days?
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True, but if you travel to europe check Calumet prices there too, as Calumet Germany are £50 cheaper on things like a 24-105 L lens, not checked shipping from Germany to UK yet.
 
What about other retailers in Germany, are they any cheaper also? I've not checked so don't know. I noticed that here the Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 is priced ok with Calumet.
 
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