\u2018Business has been absolutely bubbling,’ says Tony Stent, director of CameraWorld which operates stores in central London and Chelmsford, Essex. <\/p>\n
\u2018First it was Jacobs and then, the bigger, Jessops effect.’<\/p>\n
Stent believes there is \u2018definitely a future’ for specialist high-street photo retailers, but points out that the full impact of Jessops’ disappearance won’t be felt for some time.<\/p>\n
\u2018It’s early days,’ he tells AP, reluctant to speculate on how much his stores stand to gain.<\/p>\n
\u2018It’s good and bad news,’ adds Reg Atkins, managing director of Park Cameras, a 42-year-old business based in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.<\/p>\n
He told Amateur Photographer<\/em> (AP): \u2018I feel for the [Jessops] staff. And consumer confidence is going to take a knock – paying with any gift vouchers is going to be hit after what has happened at Jessops and HMV.’<\/p>\n Yet, like Stent, Atkins is upbeat. He estimates that hundreds of camera shops could pick up business worth tens of millions of pounds in the wake of Jessops’ high-street exit.<\/p>\n Though the likes of Argos and Tesco may gain from sales of cheaper cameras, Atkins sees independents as the places to go for models costing above \u00a3200.<\/p>\n This is an area, he says, where training and advice delivered by stores such as Park Cameras will be key to pulling in business from the photo enthusiast.<\/p>\n \u2018My hope is that these gaps, will gradually, naturally, be filled,’ adds Stent who does not rule out new stores appearing where, following Jessops closure, there will be \u2018voids’ to fill.<\/p>\n \n Risks for newcomers<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n However, it seems that, for any newcomer without experience in the industry, operating on the high street could prove risky in today’s economic climate.<\/p>\n \u2018There are not enough [profit] margins for people coming into the business… to wheel and deal and sell a diverse range of products,’ warns Stent.<\/p>\n As for Jessops’ demise, it did not come as a shock. \u00a0 <\/p>\n Atkins, says he foresaw the chain’s imminent downfall, given that the rent and VAT were due to be paid around this time of year, and that Jessops’ stock appeared to be low. <\/p>\n Atkins says that when he visited a Jessops branch in Taunton on 3 January there was no DSLR priced over \u00a3400 in stock.<\/p>\n \u2018Jessops had fewer brands in stock and were not really showing customers the full range of products,’ he tells AP.<\/p>\n A camera chain may no longer be a viable option, but it seems this is no time for other camera stores to rest on their laurels.<\/p>\n Stent stresses the importance of independents keeping down their costs, while continuing to focus on providing expert-level service and stocking a range of products.<\/p>\n Online threat<\/strong><\/p>\n While, Atkins says independent retailers can emerge as winners from the situation, he calls on the government to prevent some of the online – UK registered – retailers from sourcing cheap cameras from the \u2018US and the Far East’ – and undercutting high-street shops by advertising prices excluding VAT.<\/p>\n He points out that this means models are being quoted online at \u2018below cost price’ \u2013 a figure high-street shops find difficult to compete against.<\/p>\n \u2018That’s the principal reason Jessops went under. They tried to match these prices,’ says Atkins \u2013 a view echoed by CameraWorld.<\/p>\n \u2018There came a time for the [Jessops’] bank to say “enough’s enough”,’ continues Stent, who cites Jessops’ shift away from products aimed at the photo enthusiast \u2013 towards \u2018gadgets’ \u2013 as another key reason for its collapse. <\/p>\n \u2018It moved away from being a proper hobby shop.’<\/p>\n Is there a fear that the likes of Canon and Nikon may, one day, bypass the retailer altogether and sell direct to customers?<\/p>\n Yesterday, an unfounded industry rumour that Canon was poised to buy 50 Jessops stores was swiftly shot down by administrator, PwC, when approached by AP.<\/p>\n In any case, Stent believes that such a business model, where the consumer is faced with only one brand on show, would not work in a market where photographers like to compare products from different manufacturers.<\/p>\n Though Atkins believes there are 50-60 Jessops stores that could turn a profit, camera makers would fail to benefit from taking over a store in a prime location, where they would be faced with high rent, for example \u2013 unless they were \u2018massively subsidised’. <\/p>\n \u2018Some of these stores are too big to justify [selling] a single brand,’ he explains.<\/p>\n Atkins says that even if manufacturers consider selling direct to
Meanwhile, Atkins calls on manufacturers to support the independents by not setting unrealistic, \u2018inflated’, sales targets in the wake of Jessops’ disappearance.<\/p>\n He also wants to see more camera brands supporting independent shops, by providing ‘in-store demonstrators’.<\/p>\n And Park Cameras hopes suppliers will, in future, offer shops higher discounts on demonstration models when they expect stores to stock cameras that are launched in a wide range of colours.<\/p>\n Jessops stores may have vanished for good, but independent camera shops stand to gain from the chain\u2019s demise, finds Amateur Photographer (AP). But are they rubbing their hands with glee?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":324,"featured_media":10761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-10760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photo-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
\ncustomers from their own stores \u2013 ‘if it gets to the point
\nwhere they cannot see themselves getting enough sales through existing
\noutlets’ \u2013 he believes this would not be a valid business proposition given the profit margins on camera kit alone, where such a store would require a \u2018turnover of \u00a35m to break even’.<\/p>\n\n