earleygallery Posted March 1, 2007 Share #1  Posted March 1, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) .....but could be the place to go to stock up on memory cards! Appears that their plan to dominate the digital photography market in the UK has backfired, as the average consumer isn't interested in upgrading every year and many are happy with their 2/3MP camera phones.  InterestinglyI've seen figures which show that Jessops D&P sales have actually increased between 2002 - 2005 (last figures). This will include prints from memory cards as well as film.   Guardian Financial Pages Jessops cuts prices to revive sales Julia Finch City editor 291 words 1 March 2007 The Guardian 31 English © Copyright 2007. The Guardian. All rights reserved.  Photographic chain Jessops is to cut prices in an effort to boost trading after warning that a sharp fall in camera sales is shredding profits. The chain of 315 stores, which also trades online, said profit for this year will be around pounds 6.5m - little more than a third of expectations. Industry figures for January showed digital compact camera sales down 11% by value, memory cards down 14% and camcorders down 17%. Sales growth for digital SLR cameras was 14% compared with 30% per month last year. Jessops' shares fell 30% to 74.75p, valuing the business at around pounds 75m. The warning is its second this year. On January 8 it told the stock market that Christmas sales were down 7% on 2005 levels amid a shortage of best-selling SLR cameras and a soft market for compacts. Analysts reduced profit forecasts from around pounds 19m to pounds 17m. The shares have now lost half their value since the start of the year. The market for compact digitals is reaching maturity and many mobile phones now take high quality pictures. Analysts said the downturn could also indicate a fall in consumer confidence. Chief executive Chris Langley said: "What has surprised us . . . is the speed with which the market appears to have deteriorated." The chain will begin discounts by halving the price of memory cards. The campaign will wipe 2.4 percentage points off profit margins; another pounds 2m has been set aside to cover unsold stock. The company said it was "renegotiating its banking facilities to reflect these revised expectations" but had the support of its bank, HSBC. Jessops has net debt of around pounds 35m. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted March 1, 2007 Share #2 Â Posted March 1, 2007 I can see branch closures looming - especially the smaller ones. The increasing so-called "quality" of mobile phone photos has no doubt meant that joe public is less inclined to bother with owning a lower end p&s camera, and will hang on to their mid-range one for longer. I wonder if this trend will appear world-wide (although there are countries where the ethos is to always have the latest model) and what it would thus imply for the mass manufacturers? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveP Posted March 1, 2007 Share #3  Posted March 1, 2007 Ah - the wonders of finance  ABN Amro Capital says UK Jessops IPO generated a 43 per cent IRR05/11/2004. Source: AltAssets.  ABN Amro Capital says it generated an internal rate of return of 43 per cent and doubled the value of its investment in UK camera retailer Jessops following its flotation earlier this month. ABN has retained a 17 per cent stake in the company.  Ian Taylor, UK head of ABN AMRO Capital, said: 'Jessops has been a very successful investment and achieved all our objectives: to list the company, reduce its debt and support its growth potential.'  ABN and Dunedin Capital Partners bought Jessops in October 2002 in a secondary buy-out valued at £116m. Its turnover increased 33 per cent over the last year and profits by 43 per cent. It now has 263 stores across the UK compared with 237 when acquired.  Copyright © 2004 AltAssets   Was in the "flagship" store on Oxford Street last week. Hot, smelly place with less and less stock (used equipment gone?) and stuck in limbo between traditional photofinishing and the new digital world with "print yer own" digital kiosks wedged in front and a "pro" downstairs dungeon without a customer. They also have some B&W processing supplies (which I would suggest could be better served by others - last time I looked they did not have enough stock to actually complete any one process...)  This store needed a revamp five years ago and is in dire need of direction form management. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 1, 2007 Share #4 Â Posted March 1, 2007 Steve, is that the one near Centre Point? If so I was in there myself a few weeks ago. Dreadful. I went in on the off chance that they had a 486 filter (ok, stop laughing at the back :-). I took a look around and walked out - and this is supposed to be one of their prestige stores. Â I'd be nervous if I worked in one of their smaller branches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share #5 Â Posted March 1, 2007 Where I live there are 4 Jessops stores, 3 in the High St within 3 mins walk of each, and one 'out of town' next to the Sainsbury's. None of them seem to carry much stock, random digicams, a few SLR's the odd (very odd) s/h camera or lens and some remnants of film stock including some pro films which aren't refrigerated. Its rather like I would imagine the shopping experience to be for the people in Britain during rationing! Â Not only is joe public unlikely to update/upgrade his digicam - if he isn't using his new phone instead - he's much more likely to buy it off the internet in any case. Â Couple this bizarre business strategy with a - from my personal experience - total disregard for customer service and its little wonder...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted March 1, 2007 Share #6 Â Posted March 1, 2007 The New Oxford St store (yes the one near Centre Point) is "the pits" - just as SteveP described. Jacobs store opposite, while still a bit cramped, is a bit better and at least has some interesting stuff round the back! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
audidudi Posted March 1, 2007 Share #7 Â Posted March 1, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) The increasing so-called "quality" of mobile phone photos has no doubt meant that joe public is less inclined to bother with owning a lower end p&s camera, and will hang on to their mid-range one for longer. Â Indeed. The following comparison shows just how far camera phones have come lately... Â Sony Ericsson K800i Camera Phone Review Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted March 1, 2007 Share #8  Posted March 1, 2007 Indeed. The following comparison shows just how far camera phones have come lately... Sony Ericsson K800i Camera Phone Review  Fascinating! And the iPhone is only due to have 2Mp. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveEP Posted March 1, 2007 Share #9 Â Posted March 1, 2007 We have 3 Jessops shops in the local area - and none of them have much beyond the average consumer level. Mostly P&S, Camcorders and low end DSLRs. Â When I heard they had a Jessops World Camera Centre on Oxford street, I was expecting something like B&H. Boy was I in for a BIG let-down! Jaccobs opposite had much more instock! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 1, 2007 Share #10 Â Posted March 1, 2007 Dave, that was my reaction too. I was expecting them to have more or less everything they sold in stock. They appeared to have far less stock than the equivalent shop in Central Manchester Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_h Posted March 1, 2007 Share #11  Posted March 1, 2007 And it's all my fault.  3/4 years ago I noticed they had a pentax 645nII & zoom lens(can't remember which one) on their website for £999. Well the body should be £1645 & the lens was £850. Needless to say I ordered one. Several weeks later I got an email apologising for the non-availabilty and was sent a £50 voucher to ease my heart-ache. Clearly they wanted me to fugedaboutit ! Still good job the store uses the same codes and took my order & deposit. Better still it arrived for collection 2 weeks later.  Eventually I sold it and bought an M7 and it was downhill from there on.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted March 4, 2007 Share #12 Â Posted March 4, 2007 Just to add to the debate, and note the final sentence! This extract is from an article in Appleinsider (a useful source of news). "The Finnish cellphone maker went on to note that today's environment is already very friendly to media-wise phones from its own line -- and, Bachman added, the iPhone. Roughly 60 percent of premium phones are used for music on a regular basis, Nokia estimated. Some owners are even dependent on their handsets to such a degree that just under half of the segment's users rely on the devices as their only cameras." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted March 4, 2007 Share #13 Â Posted March 4, 2007 Where I live there are 4 Jessops stores, 3 in the High St within 3 mins walk of each, ... Couple this bizarre business strategy with a - from my personal experience - total disregard for customer service and its little wonder...... James, Â I also know the stores your referring to and I couldn't agree more. The codicil I would add is that where they've retained the staff from their take-over of the London Camera Exchange shop the service is still okay (but not as good as it was). Â Jessops has become the Dixons of the photographic world. (For non-UK members that means that customers are treated as a nuisance to be at best ignored or at worst tolerated between coffee and fag breaks.) (Oh: fag=cigarette: I wouldn't like people to jump to the wrong conclusion. ) Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted March 4, 2007 Share #14 Â Posted March 4, 2007 Here I go, swimming against the tide again; no wonder I'm always knackered. In vain hopes of manufacturing personal mystique I won't reveal where I live, but contrary to other member's perceptions of Jessops I have only had fantastic service from my local store. Where possible, they get all my trade [including my ordered M8], and currently with purchasing benefits to me that no other retailer gets close to. Â ...........................Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted March 4, 2007 Share #15  Posted March 4, 2007 Here I go, swimming against the tide again; no wonder I'm always knackered. In vain hopes of manufacturing personal mystique I won't reveal where I live, but contrary to other member's perceptions of Jessops I have only had fantastic service from my local store. Where possible, they get all my trade [including my ordered M8], and currently with purchasing benefits to me that no other retailer gets close to.  ...........................Chris  Sorry about the doubling up. That's never happened before. Must have come back in with the tide Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dugby Posted March 4, 2007 Share #16 Â Posted March 4, 2007 Jessops has become the Dixons of the photographic world. (For non-UK members that means that customers are treated as a nuisance to be at best ignored or at worst tolerated between coffee and fag breaks.) (Oh: fag=cigarette: I wouldn't like people to jump to the wrong conclusion. ) Â Pete. Â I experienced this 1st hand whilst... in Jessops on the Oxford Street / Tottenham Court Road Station. After 20mins of trying to gain a shop assistant's attention for service...... it occurred to me the only way anyone could get their attention was to attempt to move one of their items through the front door.......unfortunately not the attention I was seeking..... so I left to the very welcoming staff at Jacobs across the road. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted March 4, 2007 Share #17 Â Posted March 4, 2007 Well that's 2 votes for Jessops so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted March 4, 2007 Share #18 Â Posted March 4, 2007 Well that's 2 votes for Jessops so far. Â Actually it's three, if you count this one. Â Vote early. Vote often. Â ............Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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