Comments on: Farewell, Jessops

By: Ard Sloc

Ard Sloc — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 17:26:16 +0000

No, it’s not “jolly difficult” to get 35 mm film processed. Snappy Snaps still do a first rate job. Admittedly it now takes five days instead of the former one hour from the Slough branch since their machine broke down.

By: Adrian Beasley

Adrian Beasley — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 08:57:06 +0000

I think that the reason for the Jessops and Comet closures is very similar in both cases. These chain shops simply became shop windows for electrical products where
consumers could get a physical experience 0f an item and receive professional technical advice from staff – at least in the case of Jessops ! The visit to the outlet didn’t usually lead to a purchase of the item instore – the savvy consumer returned home . switched on a laptop and searched for the best online deal. I expect quite a few major retailers to suffer the same fate in 2013 when the quarterly rent becomes due in March

By: Serdar

Serdar — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:22:05 +0000

For those of us on this side of the pond, is Jessops a bit like B&H? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:53:27 +0000

Last time I visited Jessops was in Derby at the beginning of December to buy a new memory card. Took absolutely ages to get served.

My last significant camera purchases were a couple of secondhand lenses from LCE in Reading in November. Have to wonder if abandoning the secondhand market did them no favours.

By: Archangel

Archangel — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:54:17 +0000

I think poor customer service will have been a significant factor. Interesting to read the comment on the PC Pro blog that you linked to.
My last experience of Jessops was the Ipswich branch 18 months ago, where I’d gone to get some 35mm films developed. The store had been redesigned by a moron, and no longer had any counter or place to queue for service. There was no system of determining which customer was next to be seen, and the staff were too busy chatting to be interested in the increasing number of customers milling around trying to catch their attention. When I finally got served, I told them they had lost my business, and I haven’t been back.

By: Zalamanda

Zalamanda — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:25:19 +0000

I can’t say that I’m very surprised. I actually suspect that the rise of digital photography has much to do with it; no longer do the majority of photographers require an outside agency to access and print their images. They can do it all at home.

It’s getting jolly difficult to get 35mm developed.

I bought my Pentax SLR (a used 35mm number; I don’t use it much) from that very branch of LCE around 10 years ago. I noted that it was still there on a (now rare) visit to Reading recently.