It's Back - Allegedly

[Mike Farley]

http://www.jessops.com/

Earlier today, there was a countdown timer, which expired at around midday. Now there is only this. Hardly an auspicious (re)start.

[Peter Boughton]

I'm not a lighting expert, but wouldn't most flashes would have overheated/burnt out by now?


Anyhow, I was curious so I went poking about...

From Wikipedia:

Jessops online printing is set to be taken over CeWe Color. CeWe Color is due to take over the Jessops Photo database in early March.

The first Jessops store to reopen was the Bicester branch, which reopened as ImageX on Friday 1 March 2013 by three of the former employees of the branch.

Further stores are due to reopen on 28 March as Jessops with more set to reopen throughout April

However, Jessops Photo is already online at http://photo.jessops.com, and the main jessops.com domain is pointing at a completely different server. One owned by Expansys - a tech/electronics retailer.

I've used Expansys in the past and had a sufficiently bad experience that - if they are taking over Jessops - I would be dubious about using them. :/

[Mike Farley]

Expansys is another part of Peter Jones' business empire.

http://www.peterjones.com/portfolio/

[Peter Boughton]

Didn't know that, but doesn't affect my opinion in either direction.

However, based on this interview with PJ, it seems to be a case of re-using existing infrastructure rather than necessarily being Expansys running Jessops, so I guess it's best to reserve judgement for the time being.


Looks like the "Any minute now..." part of the holding page has gone, which probably indicates that whatever teething problems they're having are being left until at least tomorrow, and perhaps until after the long weekend.
(Which would have been a sensible choice in the first place - rule #1 of deploying websites: don't start in the afternoon nor on the last day of the working week.)

[Mike Farley]

So PJ has finally responded to AP's request for an interview. He does say:

‘In terms of centralised distribution operations and central finance, I already have that across my group of companies, so we've got a bit of breathing space across the cost base.'

This suggests that he is looking to contain costs by extending the use of what he has in place already, which is sensible. What does seem to be new is setting up retail outlets on the high street, which I do not believe he has done previously. The reviews for Expansys indicate that your experience with them might have not have been a one-off, so any goodwill he is relying on could dissipate quite rapidly. The half baked website launch is not particularly promising in that regard. He undoubtedly wants to start getting business over the Easter period, particularly as people will be more likely to stay in and shop online due to the cold weather. Not that the website is generating him much custom at the moment ......

[davidc]

I wonder if they'll adopt the £5/$5 "showrooming" fee that stores in Australia and the US are trying? Specifically to go in and actually handle the stock you need to pay £5 which is refunded if, and only if, you purchase from the store.

I can't see how that will work personally - people who prefer to buy from the high street will continue to do so and those who were undecided will now have it highlighted you can get it cheaper online and avoid the stupid prices on the highstreet.

[Mike Farley]

The Jessops website is now up and running, looking very similar in design to the old one. Based on a couple of quick checks, prices seem to be mid range and comparable with a number of other retailers.

I doubt whether the company will introduce a showroom fee, at least in the short term as that would be counter productive to rebuilding the business which must have lost a considerable amount of goodwill due to the collapse. I can see that changing at some point as the demise of the old Jessops means that there are now fewer places to examine equipment ahead of a purchase. Mind you, for that to happen the staff will have to demonstrate greater levels of knowledge than some did in the old company. I still remember being told by an assistant at the flagship Oxford Street shop to find the answer to my question by looking in the manual!

Another factor seems to be the reluctance of the manufacturers to sell to independent stores at the same prices which they supply larger companies. I have seen a number of reports where the trade price for one off orders is higher than Amazon's. With such policies, it is difficult to see how some shops will survive although I would have thought that it would be in the manufacturer's interest to retain such outlets.