So the great monolith of photographic retail is no more and sadly thousands of peoples jobs have gone with it as well , many will not shed a tear because if you cant compete in the market place then you have to go under,I however will be sad that Jessops is no more.
Firstly however I will not be sad that Jessops as it is now has gone , the overblown retailer who had long forgotten where there core market was who employed many staff who wouldn't know a camera if it hit them and who had a pricing structure ,even on the internet, that was bound to drive customers into the arms of the competition.
No the Jessops I will mourn is the one that I knew 20-30 years ago as my love of photography grew,the Jessops that had a thriving second hand section,where you could go in and talk to knowledgeable staff about the most obscure bit of photographic equipment and where if you wanted a new camera or lens they would have one in stock for you to try out.
Now maybe that's looking at the past through rose tinted specs but there are Camera shops that that still thrive with that model, Mifsuds in Brixham, Walters across the North West and the excellent Walters in the Welsh Valleys.Could Jessops have survived had they not tried to be all things to all men I don't know,I am no economist all I do know is that they changed from a retailer I loved to one I wouldn't touch with a barge pole and if that was replicated across thousands of other loyal customers of the past then they have only themselves to blame
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