Jessops in talks to become Canon-only Dealer

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By Manfreda Cavazza -Daily Mail

Debt-burdened photographic retailer Jessops is weighing up plans for a tie-up with a camera manufacturer in an attempt to rebuild the company's shattered finances.

Jessops, chaired by David Adams who was brought in last year to put together a rescue plan for the group, has already closed scores of branches and now trades from 232 outlets. In September, it secured new financing from its bank, HSBC.

The Jessops stores would then effectively become the UK retail arm of one of the big Japanese camera firms.

But Adams is understood to to be looking at an idea to team up with a single camera-maker rather than selling a range of brands.
 
That would be daft, they would instantly lose a significant share of their customer base.
 
Neither really,although saying "we are not in talks with any one" could be taken in a different context.

Who knows?
 
In this case....the Daily Mail.

A spokesman for Jessops today told Amateur Photographer: 'It's not something we are talking to anyone about.'

That's a bit ambiguous - does it mean they aren't talking to Canon about becoming their main dealer, or does it mean they're not prepared to talk to anyone about the fact that they are in talks with Canon?

Remember how HBOS denied strenuosly it was in talks with Lloyds TSB?
 
Dear Jessops,

How about you stop over charging and employ knowledgeable staff, and perhaps people will come and buy from you?

Ta!

Welly
 
welly said:
Dear Jessops,

How about you stop over charging and employ knowledgeable staff, and perhaps people will come and buy from you?

Ta!

Welly
Click to expand...

You should buy woolies:)
 
Flash In The Pan said:
In this case....the Daily Mail.

A spokesman for Jessops today told Amateur Photographer: 'It's not something we are talking to anyone about.'

That's a bit ambiguous - does it mean they aren't talking to Canon about becoming their main dealer, or does it mean they're not prepared to talk to anyone about the fact that they are in talks with Canon?

Remember how HBOS denied strenuosly it was in talks with Lloyds TSB?
Click to expand...


May be they want to keep this as ambiguous for as long as possible, until such time - if and when - it becomes fruiteful for them to go public with this.

It is usually the case with any top level discussion, that it is kept out of the news so as not to affect share-prices and public confidence (one way or another) .. as the deal may / may not go ahead. Market Speculators can be a bunch of horrible people when it comes to analysing such situations.
 
Its the Daily Mail. I'm surprised they didn't blame terrorists or something ;) I given that consumer cameras are on the up, Nikon are beating Canon and Sony is now selling gear I can't see them dumping Nikon and Sony. Randoms hear Sony and expect a quality product. Its a brand they can trust. Photographers know that Nikon and Canon are brilliant. Amateurs looking to get into photography will be tempted by Olympus and Sony.
 
This would be terrible for Nikon users.

Say what you like about them, but they generally have the keenest Nikon body prices at launch (I could've got a Nikon D3 from Jessops Pro for £2934 on Day 1 if I'd wanted one, which was £400 less than anyone else)
 
I think things are still pretty desperate for jessops, so I wouldn't be surprised at anything. I can't feel much sympathy, it's only a few years back that they bought virtually every independent camera shop in most towns, and killed off the ones who wouldn't sell, or they didn't want to buy, with vicious under-cutting, to the extent that in many towns they've become a virtual monopoly.

The current state of affairs is down to crap management and pure complacency, with their reputation at an all time low. It's difficult to see how they're going to claw their way back now.
 
Be a sad day if Jessops goes under.
Ok it does charge OTT for gear, but is very convenient for bits and isn't that bad, price-wise if you use discount vouchers and pick-up at store.
Hope it continues trading - can't see a one brand store doing any better unless it offered very significant discounts.
 
Rockshifter said:
Be a sad day if Jessops goes under.
Ok it does charge OTT for gear, but is very convenient for bits and isn't that bad, price-wise if you use discount vouchers and pick-up at store.
Hope it continues trading - can't see a one brand store doing any better unless it offered very significant discounts.
Click to expand...


It smacks of desperation, even if this does come to fruition I can't see Jessops being long for this world :shrug:
 
The more I think about it, I reckon this is *******s.

Nikon UK supply Jessops with a large proportion of UK stock (2,000 D300s on Day 1 launch for example), they do have the logistics to shift a serious amount of gear.

I believe Nikon and Sony in particular wouldn't let this happen.
 
welly said:
Dear Jessops,

How about you stop over charging and employ knowledgeable staff, and perhaps people will come and buy from you?

Ta!

Welly
Click to expand...

That's true but equally applies to customers...

Earlier this week, branch closing, heavily discounted Nikon D3... Customer knew almost nothing but clearly had a big wallet. Very elementary questions and then a quick burst of 8 frames per second clinched the deal. Sad but true...yes, I was envious! I just overheard it all as I was shopping for bits..

It's sad re Jessops as I knew them in Leicester 30 years ago when they had a small dusty, dingy store stacked with boxes but run by people who knew their stuff. Geeks I guess! I have always found their staff helpful but the knowledge level of some is akin to some assistants in PC World or Currys who know superficial details but little more. However they do remain one of relatively few places where you can go and try real stuff, feel it, talk about it and they will have those expensive lenses and quirky little bits places like Currys etc. won't have. It's a shame they aren't a bit more competitive but I guess they have massive overheads. They have cut back on cashbacks through websites and I find half the ouchers they produce never quite fit what I am hoping to buy (DSLR's for example).
 
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I could see Canon thinking about picking jessops off to have an own brand chain in the way that Sony does but I can't see Jessops staying in existence just to sell Canon products.
 
I was in conversation with the manager of an independant, high-volume internet camera trader recently. They sell all the usual brands but he said that nothing other than Canon really mattered. His Canon turnover was the bread and butter of the business. Nikon is a side-line in comparison. It could well be that Jessops would loose very little by dropping non-Canon DSLRs and that they would gain valuable support from Canon that might help keep the wolf from the door...

I work for a computer reseller that sells only one brand of hardware. The support that we get from the manufacturer for making that decision is considerable.

Andrew
 
welly said:
Dear Jessops,

How about you stop over charging and employ knowledgeable staff, and perhaps people will come and buy from you?

Ta!

Welly
Click to expand...

They are regularly near the top in camera price busters list for the cheapest products when you use the vouchers, I bought a D300 from them last year for an internet price.

Bottom line is it's expensive running 232 shops compared to 1 automated warehouse like amazon, if you want to be able to handle a camera before buying it where would you be without Jessops :shrug:
 
Rockshifter said:
Be a sad day if Jessops goes under.
Ok it does charge OTT for gear, but is very convenient for bits and isn't that bad, price-wise if you use discount vouchers and pick-up at store.
Hope it continues trading - can't see a one brand store doing any better unless it offered very significant discounts.
Click to expand...


Is that not the way to go then, become an internet based company and turn the shops in to collection points only, with no need for knowledgeable staff.
 
whiteflyer said:
Is that not the way to go then, become an internet based company and turn the shops in to collection points only, with no need for knowledgeable staff.
Click to expand...


They already have the suitable staff ;)

Just selling one brand of camera would be commercial suicide & would surely see the end of Jessops, turning themselves into the Argos of the photography world might just work though, at least they would be able to offer more competitive pricing

Simon
 
wack61 said:
They are regularly near the top in camera price busters list for the cheapest products when you use the vouchers, I bought a D300 from them last year for an internet price.

Bottom line is it's expensive running 232 shops compared to 1 automated warehouse like amazon, if you want to be able to handle a camera before buying it where would you be without Jessops :shrug:
Click to expand...

My local, independent camera shop :) I'll go to them every time.
 
I suspect it may be true as Jessops have no credit agreement with Nikon, Sony etc. I am not sure about Canon. However, given that in units sold, Sony are catching up I think that it wont happen as it would be the final nail in the coffin. As previous poster pointed out, one D3 can net you about 5% based on their prices so I wonder if they really could afford to oust Nikon. It may well be the other way round in that Nikon may decide enough is enough.

Interestingly, the flagship Leicester store closed last week. That is a sign.

D.
 
whiteflyer said:
Is that not the way to go then, become an internet based company and turn the shops in to collection points only, with no need for knowledgeable staff.
Click to expand...

And carry massive stocks,pay huge rent and rates to have someone standing there handing boxes out:thinking:
 
andrewc said:
My local indie is Warehouse Express. They've got a fantastic new showroom :)
Click to expand...

Jealous. One of the reasons why I want to live in Norwich hehe.

We had a Camera Store in Ipswich, but it closed due to the bloke retiring. Shame, wanted to swap some lenses as well :(
 
Two camera shops in Cambridge have gone.

One - K-Prof - was incredibly snooty and massively over-priced and I was amazed they ever had any Customers!

The other - University Cameras - was run by a chap who retired and thats been gone for a few years.

Now we have Jessops (down to one store now, who are fine) and Campkins (pricey)

I'd be sorry to see the back of Jessops, I really would.
 
Stores are a separate issue - stocking Canon only alone doesn't allude to a store reduction unless they're in even more desperate trouble than we suspect.

I think they'll get through Xmas, look at their inventory and see what to do next. If I were Canon I'd also be very wary about putting my eggs in an already dodgy basket.
 
puddleduck said:
The other - University Cameras - was run by a chap who retired and thats been gone for a few years.
Click to expand...

Was that the one on the parade opposite Kings College, if so I used to spend many an hour gazing in the window in the 70s/80s

I once bought a little 1/2 frame camera for £5 out of the paper, played with it for a bit then took it into them and they gave me £30 for it, seems like a lifetime ago now
 
That one is Campkins, Darren - its still there :)

University Cameras was a small shop between the market and the Corn Exchange, it went about 3 years ago.
 
wack61 said:
Was that the one on the parade opposite Kings College, if so I used to spend many an hour gazing in the window in the 70s/80s

I once bought a little 1/2 frame camera for £5 out of the paper, played with it for a bit then took it into them and they gave me £30 for it, seems like a lifetime ago now
Click to expand...

there was one in a parade opposite one of the colleges when I was there in July. It was closed, but it was a Sunday. Took this photo, not that it'd be much help in recognising it! :D

DSC09537.jpg
 
fabs said:
there was one in a parade opposite one of the colleges when I was there in July. It was closed, but it was a Sunday. Took this photo, not that it'd be much help in recognising it! :D

DSC09537.jpg
Click to expand...


I don't recognise any of the cameras, would they have been there in 1977 :D
 
When a Jessops store closes, where online will you hear about it first? And how long do they typically trade for?

If my local branch were to close, I'd like to go and look around before it goes.
 
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