Anyone think Jessops are now kicking themselves?

With the K-7, possibly the most advanced feature set in an APS-C DSLR, now announced? Do we think that Jessops are now kicking themselves with their recent announcement about Pentex being "not advanced enough" ?

No? thought not!

More fool them I say.

I am still under the impression that Pentax dropped Jessops, rather then the other way around, with Jessops making a poor excuse. And what do Pentax do? bring something out to prove them wrong!

Roll on SRS, Mathers, WEX, jacobs, LCE, et al, for knowing a good camera when they see one.

I suspect that Pentax dropped jessops!!!
Pentax seems to be greatly underrated, THE Kit sells itself though.

Pentax owners know, quality after all.And of course have no need to visit there stores anymore.

Chris

Jessops problem generally is down to the staff they employ. How can a school lever be expected to know the technical details of the various camera systems available from simple P&S cameras to the most sophisticated SLR's from numerous manufacturers. I doubt that they have many adult staff that could do justice to them all.

I did say generally, I'm sure Jessops do have some very knowledgeable people on their staff, but not enough in many areas of the country.

Besides, very few companies can make retail sales of high technology work these days as interent trading has taken over. SRS seems to be able to, but they have only two shops. By the time you get to the size of Jessops, I doubt that there are enough knowledgeable people available to populate every store with quality staff.

I believe the moon is made of Lymeswold cheese and that space aliens disguised in human form faked the moon landings to maintain secrecy and keep it all for themselves.

Who terminated who we may never know, but whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation the loss of high street presence is more of a loss to Pentax (bearing in mind the market that they are targeting), than losing Pentax is to Jessops.

For my sins I develop business strategy and if I had a national high street presence, I would be asking for stock on consignment and training for my staff everytime a new model came out. Back in the early 80's at their Leicester superstore they had Pentax, Nikon, Canon, Olympus experts ect. I remember waiting in line to speak to the Pentax guy, in those days Pentax were selling more cameras than anyone.

A major problem with Jessops is that they have far too many stores. If they streamlined their operation such that they had well stocked stores and well trained staff in the largest cities, they could do well.

The smaller satellite stores in this scenario would have little stock and concentrate on the lower end compacts and printing/processing services, but would also be able to pull equipment in to demo by appointment. They would also be able to arrange for pick up in store or home delivery. If they sorted out the logistics properly you could have your camera within 3 days of making the appointment to try it

A real differentiator would be if they were authorised by the manufacturer, after inspection, to replace from their stock any faulty item that was still within warranty. As an example of this I recently had a problem with a golf umbrella. The umbrella was 18 months old, but amazingly had a 2 year warranty. The umbrella was purchased over the internet, so I emailed the manufacturer. To paraphrase they said 'no problem, this is your nearest authorised dealer, take it there, if they feel that the item should be replaced they will replace it there for you' and they did. The manufacturer was Callaway and the store American Golf.

If the high street chains are to survive they need to go beyond selling boxes, smaller retailors know this, the corner shop open 24/7 is selling convenience and you buy time. SRS undoubtably know this and demonstrate it over and over again.


Steve

I have no idea and frankly don't care if Jessops do or dont carry the K-7 but I would like to thank them for the Pentax grip deal, because of that I have a nice chunk towards my K-7.
Anymore bargains like that would be more than welcome before the end of June.

When I started looking for my DSLR, I like most newbie’s wandered into Jessops where I was greeted by a bored teenager who after much persuasion from me finally walked round the counter, he then waived his hand in the direction of several Nikons then wondered off to help the rather attractive lady who needed some prints developed. I ended up purchasing my Pentax from Warehouse Express although not a high street shop I found them to be extremely helpful on the phone. I must admit that having a shop in the Newcastle areas where you can walk in and actually lay your hand on a Pentax fit lens and try it for yourself would be nirvana.

Trouble is that when the K-7 is actually released where do I go to find one that I can hold and try for myself. As Pentax seem to be moving towards a bigger internet presence perhaps they should give their pro dealers a couple of bodies that people can rent for a few days with the option of buying a new one less any rental due.

When Pentax and jessops split, more independent camera shops suddenly had stock and access to Pentax kit.

Were jessops tying up the supply?

Now if I want kit I have a better choice of local(ish) shops staffed by people who know what their stock does.

When jessops go bust what will the other brands do? Canon try and stop stores stocking rivals products, lets see how they fair when shops can't afford the massive capital outlay and, instead, continue selling rivals kit.

I have a feeling that Canon and Sony are providing stock on consignment together with displays and other promotional items. Lower margins for the retailor, but less risk. In effect they are renting shop floor space and the collect the rent through over the counter sales. There are almost certainly volume based bonuses too.

Local shops are great, but how many can afford the outlay? More importantly how many people are prepared to pay the extra cost for the convenience. Members of this forum quite clearly fall into the specialist photographer segment and so may lean more towards the specialist shop, but I suspect most will try in the shop and then buy on the internet.

Except for the high end most DSLR's are mass market consumer electronics, sold to 'non photographers', to be disposed of when the next model comes out. We are not talking about the SLR's of old that were made for a relatively specialist enthusiast niche market. The customer has changed and the business model needs to also.

In the right hands it would be hard to choose between a photograph taken with a 1960's Spotmatic to that taken with a MZS. The same cannot be said for DSLR's . There have been tremendous improvements in the IQ of DSLR's over the last 5 years and who knows what will happen in the next?

Steve

Unfortunately Jessops like most british retailers have stopped paying there staff a mixture of basic plus commission & went down the minimum wage plus a little bit more on top. Now that little bit more has not kept pace with the minimum wage & nearly all retail staff are now on minimum wage.

A friend of mine used to work at DSG & saw his pay sink from 21k to 12,000 ouch!!! Will they get enthusiastic staff for the same pay you get in Macdonalds??? Hey at least you get fed in Macdonalds and these minor differences are reflected in a companies staff. A company that pays it staff minimum wage is only doing so because it has to not because it wants to, it would probably want to pay its staff less if it could!!!

I see this in all walks of industry, pay washers you get monkeys, the most ineffective cost cutting a business can make.

I was recently in a store and the clerk started complaining about the, in his eyes, unfair competition from the internet.

I told him that a store which offers great service can get away with prices that are a little higher then the prices on the internet.
But you do need to keep the level of service up and you should have staff that actually knows what they are selling.

Wise words, I hope he takes your advice.

Steve

The worst of it is that if you live in many parts of the country there are almost no 'proper' camera shops apart from Jessops. I am not aware of a single shop in Scotland where I could physically look at a Pentax SLR before ordering.

Please let me know if I'm wrong...

A further thought, the traditional professionals shop at your local golf course, experiences the same kind of problems as the small camera shop. What many have done is to form buying groups that increase their purchasing power.

I can't see why a similar approach would not work for camera shops.

Steve