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Moving forward, rather than dwelling on what has happened, where does the ordinary photographer go now?
In the North East from the Humber to the Scottish border there were few other than Jacobs and Jessops.
In Newcastle, one of the top UK cities by population, there is no longer a camera shop stocking DSLR's.
In Leeds, possibly the U.K.'s third largest city, there is only one professional dealer, Dale Photographic.
Middlesbrough and Darlington no longer have a camera shop. To the best of my knowledge Hull no longer has a camera shop and Northallerton, the North Yorkshire county town, has a shop that only sells mainly compacts. York seems to have one remaining shop which sells mainly second hand.
John Lewis in Newcastle and PC world in Leeds have a few entry-level DSLR's, but no staff with photographic expertise.
Last Wednesday at Dale I heard the staff helping a new beginner wanting a D3100 and reasonable zoom for less than £500. There seems nowhere else left in a stretch of the UK 200 miles by almost 100 miles with a population of 4,000,000 where he could have got guidance 
The North West still have Wilkinson's but their nearest shop is a 118 mile round trip for me. Dale in Leeds are a 110 mile round trip, and Harrison at Sheffield and Calumet in Manchester are each nearly 200 miles round trip.
The sadness is not so much Jessops have gone, it is rather that in much of the UK there is almost nowhere else left to go.
The way the administrators have closed the shops so quickly results in actual daylight robbery. For example apart from the gift card fiasco, what about the people who have had prints done in store and haven't been able to collect them. No shop to collect from anymore. Jessops always insisted on prepayment.
I almost ordered a printer with my gift card. Glad I didn't. At least I've only lost £35, not £135 which I would have done. I doubt if it will be worthwhile claiming value of the Gift Cards as I might get £2 back,,
This was Jessops London Moorgate at 6pm last night, typically it would be open till 7pm.
I chose to include the delivery Van to indicate the movement of stock.
(Sorry camera phone in the dark)
John you are right about people handling equipment then buying cheaper online but maybe inflated prices in the current climate or at any other time dont help either. I have found places like Wilkinsons and LCE cheaper and recently far more knowledgeable too.
Quote: I probably hasn't helped Jessops that we have all went in had a demo and handled equipment, then went home and ordered it cheaper Online from another company.
We haven't all done that. The last time I bought a DSLR it was at Mifsuds, and I bought the one they showed me, over the counter. If I remember rightly, the price was as good as anywhere else. Going to Jessops wouldn't even have crossed my mind.
A sad end for Jessops. But it's so difficult to compete with online traders who have very little overheads. It's all very well going into a shop then ordering online, but in the end there will be no decent shops left. I live in Southport and retailers are closing at a frightening rate leaving the town looking shabby and lifeless.
Quote: A sad end for Jessops. But it's so difficult to compete with online traders who have very little overheads. It's all very well going into a shop then ordering online, but in the end there will be no decent shops left. I live in Southport and retailers are closing at a frightening rate leaving the town looking shabby and lifeless.
The only losers in the end are the public.
Hands up if you've gone in a shop to test then bought on the internet
Let's not blame Jessops folks..
The simple matter is,photography is changing at a rapid rate..the sales of DSLRs is dropping off,the young prefer the Camera Phone,it's quick and instant.
And the quality is getting better all the time.
Manufacturers,like Honda,need to sell vast amount of items to keep afloat in business-if this doesn't happen closurers are around the corner.
This may not be the last.
Fashions are changing & people don't have the money to buy luxury goods.
Something that slips into the pocket is the 'in thing'.
Perhaps I should qualify that I don't know about pricing at Jessops, I gave up going there, as detailed earlier, because it was changed from a friendly photographic store to an unpleasant little electronics consumer shop. Last time I was at Mifsuds it was still a photographic shop with the same kind of people on both sides of the counter, and I like having a reason to go there.
I wonder if that is why Waterstones always seems very busy, even in the e-reader age, people like going there.
I have a friend who will order a book on line, and collect from Waterstones, with no delivery charge, because he likes going to the shop. That might be a reason why some shops are thriving while others are putting up shutters.
They had far too many stores where 40 or so would have been enough while putting more effort in on line sales.
Jessops at one time they had 3 within a few minutes walk from each other.
What was alarming is the speed at which they closed, not weeks, but a few days that must have knocked the dedicated staff sideways,
Quote: prefer the Camera Phone,it's quick and instant
An area that Jessops chose to ignore while at one time they did decide to sell computers as digital was making its presence felt.
Quote: Let's not blame Jessops folks..
Not the store staff no, but I think we can blame the management - who who borrowed huge sums in a reckless expansion onto the high st (and as Pete said, into high rent locations), then alienated their core customers (us) by clearing out most of the 'photography gear', and replacing it with lots of printing kiosks and rafts of compacts, letting go many of their experienced staff and trying it on high prices and over aggressive sales tactics...... And then not calling in the administrators until too late.
Quote: Not sure where the idea of Jessops inflated prices comes from. The were often the cheapest or at least equaled available mainline e-tail.
They used to be competitive until the last time they went into administration
Quote: Hands up if you've gone in a shop to test then bought on the internet
I do try to support local companies. All of my recent lens purchases and come from Mifsuds (second hand stock).
In fact the last time I 'tried it in a shop, and then ordered on line' was when I purchased a Bike. Ordered it from the same company who's shop I visited, and collected in store - but the internet price was 50% of the 'in store price'. I try to support the high street, but I'm not a mug!
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