Jessops goes into Administration

Jessops filed for administration on the 9th Jan 2013.  The chain suffering from a lack of small camera sales as people turn to the increasing quality of their mobile phones and on the higher end being undercut on prices by the internet retailers.

It's a real shame because now it's just got a whole lot harder to actually go and put a camera in your hand and have a proper play with it before committing to a brand or model.  A major factor in any camera purchase is how it feels in the hand and people will have different preferences beyond just the technical specs.  All too many people visited the stores to try out the kit and instead of purchasing in store left to seek out a few pound saving online.  It's a sad reflection on the economic times that people don't value or at least are prepared to pay a little extra for a face to face service.

The outcome doesn't look promising either as there are no obvious buyers lining up to step in to save the chain.  The vultures looking for closing down sale bargains are already circling and ready to pounce.  I certainly didn't hang around yesterday going in to the local store to spend the remaining money I had on a Jessops gift card, especially after the problems with gift card use in Comet recently.