Jessops goes into administration (bankruptcy), vouchers and returns not available for now

Not good news today for camera shops and shoppers in the UK, as one of the high profile retailers, Jessops, is going into administration (bankruptcy) and vouchers and returns are not accepted at the moment. Administration is roughly the equivalent of bankruptcy proceedings - see Wikipedia for an overview of UK administration laws.

There is a lot of coverage on this on UK based websites including Amateur Photographer UK and British Journal of Photography and BBC Business News and and Trusted Reviews and dpreview UK and Photography Blog and CNet UK and ePhotozine and Pocket Lint and Digital Camera World which includes a reader feedback poll.

In the US market, we have already seen the Ritz and Wolf chain expand and bloat and overflow and then fall apart. Whether this is the shape of things to come world-wide, or these are individual cases of mismanagement and inefficiencies, only the future knows. It's easy to blame the internet for this too, but then how can you explain the success of Apple brick and mortar stores and the continued success of B&H Photo and other brick and mortar retailers?

PS: On an unrelated blog-planning note, there are now enough new hands-on reports from the CES + PMA 2013 show floor, that we will soon launch a new Trade Show Floor round-up!