Store Gift Cards

[PaulT]

So the first UK High Street casualty of 2013 is Jessops. Whilst I feel sorry for the workers this has been on the cards for ages. Even their on-line side was so uncompetitive.

The closure was very quick - just a couple of days in administration and closure last night (11/01).

And prior to the closure the normal 'NO GIFT CARDS ACCEPTED'.

And the holders of these are unsecured creditors right at the end of the line for any pay out, i.e. nothing.

Is not it about time that there was a law that required the money for these cards to be held in a dedicated account and if the company does go bust then the money is returned.

Until this happens it must be far safer to give the folding stuff as gifts either as cash or cheque (subject to the giver being solvent).

[Val_2]

I have never heard of this shop and saw it on the BBC news yesterday but if what you say is true about uncompetitive trading, then they have only themselves to blame in this current economic climate. I think there will some french companies go to the wall this year as well,especially when you can buy the same  products online at cheaper cost (Printemps department store is one I can't understand how they survive here, I looked in there for some shoes before xmas and found the same Kickers, at €30 cheaper online with the company I buy my shoes from usually and free delivery too!

[PaulT]

[quote user="Val_2"]I have never heard of this shop [/quote]

Jessops was a photographic shop started in 1935 I think and expanded in to a chain and obviously, until recently, cameras took film so there was the chance to sell the cameras and also handle the developing and printing.

A few people still use film but it is a very few, and digital is now king - even in the world of high quality image requirements, such as medical photography digital cameras are better.

So you now buy a camera, a printer and paper and away you go. Jessops did not seem to change so the future was always going to be bleak. Perhaps they became merely showrooms - have a look at a camera and then order it on line. Perhaps the need to finance the upkeep of shops meant that they could not offer the same prices as the box shifters nor get the discounts that companies can get for large volumes.

They may have been best to drop their high street presence and become a purely on line company.

[Val_2]

Thanks for clarifying who they are/were. I last visited the UK over five years ago now and even then did not go into the nearby town apart from Sainsburys on the outskirts so if there were a branch I had no idea. I have a beautiful Pentax film camera that belonged to my OH and we often say we must get some more 35mm and use it again as the photo quality with all the different types of lenses is very good.

[Benjamin]

PaulT

This BBC article reporting Jessops float in 2004 seems to give a different slant on things than your point of view.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3726034.stm

[PaulT]

[quote user="Benjamin"]PaulT

This BBC article reporting Jessops float in 2004 seems to give a different slant on things than your point of view.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3726034.stm


[/quote]

Well, if things were still going as well as in 2004 they would have expanded and be extremely profitable - but in 2013 they are not and for the past couple of years the ice has been extremely thin.

[DerekJ]

The writing has been on the wall for Jessops for a long time. Many of their stores were poorly stocked more recently and couldn't even show you many of the items. The quality of staff varied a lot. Some stores had reasonably knowledgeable staff, others not.

They suffered from the showroom then buy on-line problem.

Their online prices were OK but generally not the best.

Not a suprise I'm afraid but not good news for the already depleted high streets or for the people losing their jobs.

What with the lost 800 Honda jobs, not a good week.

[YCCMB]

They closed both of their branches near us as long ago as 2007.

[idun]

I think I would be very upset if anyone ever gave me a store gift card. If they couldn't think of what to buy me, then I'd rather have universal vouchers, which I call bank notes and can be used anywhere, even changed for forren money too[Www]

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="DerekJ"] 

... They suffered from the showroom then buy on-line problem...

[/quote]

I think that the High Street, as we have understood it, is dead. Mine is studded with empty shops which may, if they are fortunate, become charity shops - but there are only so many charities ... Town edge shopping developments with supermarkets, DIY sheds and shops like Argos are filled with shoppers, the High Street is not.

One of the reasons, of course. is the Amazon effect. I learned a long time ago that if I wanted a book, Amazon could deliver it faster than W H Smith - and often cheaper, too. And, as DerekJ suggests, I looked at goods in Currys and Comet (late - not much lamented) and then bought online. (Incidentally, according to someone on the radio recently, Amazon practise differential pricing. If you are a regular Amazon customer the prices you see on screen may be higher than those shown to less frequent customers - customer loyalty rewarded!!!)

I suspect that the rents charged by property companies may be a factor in High Street depopulation. Once upon a time shops owned their own premises (M&S were particularly reknowned for this, commentators often - jeeringly - used to ask if M&S was a retailer or a property company).

We have not seen the end of this cull of retailers. If High Streets and town centres are to survive then they must be refashioned to meet new patterns of living.

[PaulT]

Well, HMV has now gone in to administration and guess what, gift cards no longer being accepted.

[Russethouse]

Anyone who has a HMV gift card or voucher that was purchased with a credit or debit card should contact their card provider.

I agree that there will most likely be other retail casualties in the not to distant future, but remember that John Lewis's turnover increased......so it looks as if people are still interested in good service and value for money.

[Cendrillon]

[quote user="PaulT"]Well, HMV has now gone in to administration and guess what, gift cards no longer being accepted.[/quote]

As of yesterday HMV say they will now accept gift cards, so if you have one go quickly and spend it if you can find a shop still open.

[Russethouse]

[quote user="idun"]

I think I would be very upset if anyone ever gave me a store gift card. If they couldn't think of what to buy me, then I'd rather have universal vouchers, which I call bank notes and can be used anywhere, even changed for forren money too[Www]

[/quote]

We often ask for John Lewis vouchers - no problem spending them at all :-)

[Chancer]

Re the differential pricing on Amazon. I have come across it after buying something that I thought was very good and good value and decided to buy another, each time the price had increased yet friends who had also decided the same after seeing mine got the price I initially paid.

Quite clever really!

[Hoddy]

I was given a Debenhams gift voucher for Christmas. I went online and could find nothing I wanted at that price so I chose something which cost a little more.

When I got to the check out I found that I could not use the gift token as part payment.

In the end I had to visit the nearest store which is in a Westfield centre which I don't normally visit and where I had to pay for parking.

I wish they had just given me money.

Hoddy

[Alan Zoff]

Gift vouchers must be the greatest idea ever thought up by sellers; and the most stupid things that are bought by customers. Someone gives the seller cash in return for a card that might - or might not - one day be exchanged for goods.

When I ask my wife why she doesn't give cash instead, she says it's more personal to give a card. Cash seems tacky.

But it's the same thing in as much as it clearly shows how much you have spent. But instead of being as flexible as a note, the recipient is tied to spending it at the shop of the giver's choice. Invariably, they will then feel they have to look for something with a higher price and pay the difference.

As you might have gathered, I despise the bloody things. If someone can't buy me a proper present, they can by all means give me cash. I won't think it tacky and certainly won't be offended. They can even pop the note inside a card to make it more "personal".

 

[Russethouse]

They are great idea for the stores because typically people spend more, however we never have a problem spending in JL where as cash just tends to get in my purse and frittered on everyday expenses.