Even Jessops have spotted that film is not dead.

[digiconvert]

I searched for Meopta (thinking of changing the old 5A) in google and found this link
http://www.jessops.com/Store/s8326/...ad-Including-Transformer/details.aspx?&comp=n

Looks like Jessops have started to stock darkroom stuff again, they have quite a list of Ilford papers .
They've also ditched the consumer electronics and are clearing the SatNav.... it's like getting to know an old friend again after a big argument

WELCOME BACK Jessops

 

[Woolliscroft]

I have noticed more papers and chemicals back in my local branch, albeit the prices are a bit steep.

David.

 

[tim_walls]

I searched for Meopta (thinking of changing the old 5A) in google and found this link
http://www.jessops.com/Store/s8326/...ad-Including-Transformer/details.aspx?&comp=n

Looks like Jessops have started to stock darkroom stuff again, they have quite a list of Ilford papers .
They've also ditched the consumer electronics and are clearing the SatNav.... it's like getting to know an old friend again after a big argument

WELCOME BACK Jessops

I can't say they 'never' dropped film stuff, because I haven't been using film that long, but they have stocked all the film accessories I can think of for at least the last 18 months that I have.

Certainly, 18 months ago I was able to buy can opener, developing tank, fixer, developer, darkbag, and all the other bits and bobs, 'cos I did. I also have regularly bought fixer and the like from the highstreet Jessops near me - it may not be the cheapest, but it certainly wins for convenience. I've bought developing trays from the highstreet and still buy slidemounts and the like there because I'm disorganised. (And I know for a fact that they have been continuously stocking Meopta enlargers over that time as well - mine came from them about 9 months ago.)


Jessops 'exit' from the film market is much over-egged here on APUG, I've noticed. Yes, they've made a lot of mistakes, and yes we can argue that trying to turn into a clone of Dixons is a poor strategy (and I think we'd be right.) There is an element here though that won't be satisfied until all visitors to Jessops.com are greeted with "Digital sucks, buy film!" in 42pt lettering. (This is not a UK only phenomenon of course - the recent absurd suggestion of boycotting Calumet until they put a link to APUG on every page is a similar transatlantic example of what happens when victim culture goes mad...)

 

[digiconvert]

Jessops 'exit' from the film market is much over-egged here on APUG, I've noticed. Yes, they've made a lot of mistakes, and yes we can argue that trying to turn into a clone of Dixons is a poor strategy (and I think we'd be right.) There is an element here though that won't be satisfied until all visitors to Jessops.com are greeted with "Digital sucks, buy film!" in 42pt lettering.

As I said I have nothing against Jessops - it's just good to see an old friend again , my local store now has a minilab for the FIRST time ever and I even saw some Ilford paper in there for the first time in months last week. I may start visiting morer regularly.

 

[tim_walls]

If your local store has just acquired a minilab, sadly the odds are that it's not because they rediscovered film. Jessops are closing a lot of stores - chances are another store in your area has been closed and they've moved the remaining equipment to yours, I'm afraid.

 

[FrankB]

I've started and commented on quite a few Jessops / Digital threads. My posts and opinions are based on my personal experience. If people disagree then that's fine; everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

The darkroom materials and kit have always been on the Jessops site, albeit since the redesign hidden away on submenus. However, the range and quantity stocked even at the warehouse have declined massively over the last few years.

A wide range of traditional materials and accessories used to be on display in most stores so that you could walk in off the street, have a browse, pick it up off the shelf and buy it then and there. When this stopped being common practice it was at least kept in the back room so that you could walk in off the street, ask for it and buy it then and there.

Increasingly I've found it's now a case of, "Well, we can order it for you", or sometimes, "You might be able to go on our website and order it yourself!" (this in the Manchester city centre store a couple of months back for a bottle of fixer!).

If I have to order something and wait for it then I'll go for the lowest online price (which is very rarely Jessops) or (more likely) I'll pick a firm who actively support traditional photography instead of actively discouraging people from buying film cameras and marginalising traditional products at every opportunity.

Online I go to Silverprint, Mr CAD and Nova Darkroom. In the high street I go to Jacobs, who have a great selection of traditional products right out on display. Slightly off the high street but still usually walk-in-and-buy, Calumet are still fairly good for a range of traditional gear. These companies actively support my hobby so I actively support them.

Some of the old-school Jessops staff left over from the good old days are very good indeed. A lot of the new lot know nothing about traditional photography (and, truth be told, not much more about digital!).

Like I said, I'm basing this on my experience. Your Mileage May Vary.

 

[Dave Miller]

It was Jessops that trained me to shop on-line; with other retailers.

 

[pentaxuser]

It was Jessops that trained me to shop on-line; with other retailers.

Nice one Dave but doesn't this belong to the "Is Deadpan Dead?" thread?

Were you ever the warm-up for Reginald Dixon at the Tower Ballroom?

pentaxuser

 

[Dave Miller]

Dear old Reg, I remember him well.

 

[Stoo Batchelor]

My local branch of Jessops has shut

GOOD RIDDANCE!!!

 

[Black Dog]

Did Reg work for Jessops?

 

[Dorian Gray]

I think Jessops is the only high-street store that still stocks Super-8 film, so go easy on them!

 

[tim_walls]

I think Jessops is the only high-street store that still stocks Super-8 film, so go easy on them!

Go easy on them? Are you having a laugh? We don't just bite the hand that feeds round here, we want the whole arm

 

[Bob F.]

Well, when my local two start putting film and darkroom consumables back on display, I'll probably buy some. Until then I will not be holding my breath.

BTW, that Magnifax is on special order for 28-day delivery (Collect At Store: not available). What that means in English is that they get your order and then get it shipped to you directly from the UK distributor RK Photographic (www.thedarkroom.co.uk). Jessops do not even see it, let alone stock it.

Cheers, Bob.

 

[catem]

Go easy on them? Are you having a laugh? We don't just bite the hand that feeds round here, we want the whole arm

Why stop there?

In fact, Jessops gets slagged off pretty much on any photo-forum, usually well deservedly. Digital photographers don't think they're great either.
There are some very nice people in the branch nearest to me, quite knowledgeable aswell, and usually delighted to talk about analogue stuff - (they sell the odd film, which I have bought in an emergency, but you have to watch the sell-by date). But they worked in the extremely good camera shop that was there before being taken over. They also have packs of Ilford Multi - very battered ones, two packets only, size 10 x 8 only, in full sunlight in the window. (None elsewhere in the shop). Those packets haven't moved for months - I give them a little wave as I pass by....

 

[pentaxuser]

I went into the Northampton Jessops store today as I was passing anyway. Nothing on display but the young lad said that he'd go to the store in the back and note all B&W chems etc they had and came back with a list. So 10 out of 10 for trying. The stock was limited to say the least but his older colleague said that Jessops would only ever carry a very small stock of such items in store as it was trying to persuade customers to use the website, order there and have the stuff delivered to the store of choice for collection. That way the warehouse stock turns over much faster -important for limited life items and there was no charge for the service.

He was keen to "chew the fat" with me as Jessops assistants used to want to do but I was in a hurry.

I haven't checked prices via the website nor the delivery time but if these match other mail order suppliers then it indicates they are trying albeit the days of a large stock in the shops has gone.

For most of us ordering a couple of days in advance isn't too big a hassle, provided we live reasonably close to a Jessops store which I don't.

One swallow doesn't make a summer but if Jessops attitude in Northampton is a sign of a change of attitude overall then I am a little happier.

I certainly wasn't treated as well on a previous visit.

pentaxuser

 

[tim_walls]

BTW, that Magnifax is on special order for 28-day delivery (Collect At Store: not available). What that means in English is that they get your order and then get it shipped to you directly from the UK distributor RK Photographic (www.thedarkroom.co.uk). Jessops do not even see it, let alone stock it.

While I don't doubt that's true now, the Jessops warehouse stickers on the box for mine, and the fact it was delivered from stock next day, suggest that has not always been the case.

The stock was limited to say the least but his older colleague said that Jessops would only ever carry a very small stock of such items in store as it was trying to persuade customers to use the website, order there and have the stuff delivered to the store of choice for collection. That way the warehouse stock turns over much faster -important for limited life items and there was no charge for the service.

I don't doubt this is true. Anyone who has ever rifled through the piles of discounted out-of-date films has to realise that it can't be economic to have to throw half your stock out every few months because it's out of date.

Don't get me wrong, I hardly think Jessops are the be all and end all, but the staff in my local branches (now branch, sad to say,) have always been helpful and more than accommodating. They've sometimes looked baffled when I've asked for something they need to dig through the dusty corners of the storeroom - or ask an older colleague - to find, but that says more about disappearing demand than it does about the standing staff instruction to hate all film customers that some people seem to believe they have.


Fundamentally, I can't understand how it can be considered a success for us to see any retailer/distributor servicing us, however badly, go out of business. The morbid delight in dancing on their grave just seems odd; there are a few around these parts who it seems will be having a similar victory parade when Dwayne's go out of business - the fact that will be the end of Kodachrome will be just an annoyance on the minor scale of not having a nose, far outweighed by the wound they will have inflicted on their faces.


Anyway, Jessops will continue to retain some of my business, for as long as the various alternative retailers continue to have entirely opaque "make 'em guess" stock control, fail to accept AMEX, and fail to make delivering to a work address a simple exercise.

 

[Steve Roberts]

My local branch of Jessops has shut

GOOD RIDDANCE!!!

One of mine has in Plymouth (there are two within five minutes' walk of where I work.) Sadly for the staff, who have always been very helpful, only one of the half dozen is to be re-deployed at the other shop. I did rather well out of the closure - lots of B/W paper at half its normal retail price, likewise bulk film, nice new developing trays at only ten percent of their normal price and a Kodak Ektalite IR remote Carousel slide changer for £8. All sorts of other things besides that I can't remember, but every day the shelves were re-stocked with forgotten things dragged out of the store.
The strange thing is that I can remember all the bells and whistles about Jessops opening their first shop in Plymouth when they took over Tom Molland Ltd about twenty years ago.

Steve

 

[digiconvert]

Blimey ---- you post a note that confirms film isn't dead (Jessops had tried to ignore it but it won't go away) and the response is one of antipathy to a company that's really trying to put the recent debacle behind them. Come on folks ANY resurgance of film is worth celebrating... unless of course you WANT to play the martyr.

 

[Simon E]

I buy chemicals from them - they get DD-X (for example) in the shop within a few days and it's £11.99, about the same as elsewhere but I don't pay any postage. Their own brand fixer etc are perfectly good and usually in stock. The website shows 157 lines of darkroom paper and 9 enlargers, so it's not all bad news.