Is A J Purdy in trouble?

Monkey person,

It's about time you update your profile, or sell your 70-200VR. Congratulations on your new acquisition, and well done for taking the jump at buying from them while others - namely me - stood by and watched in worry!
 
Thanks.
Profile updated :D
Alex
 
Monkey said:
well, the website is now closed, they say check back next week, we will have to wait and see.
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4 weeks from christmas they decide to close their website because they're creating a new one :thinking:
 
Well I did get two items from them this week... never thought either would come off.
 
Its a bloody shame to see any business go under. Whos next ?
 
Jessops? Although I do suspect they can survice via sheer volume.

Well my gut feel that they have effectively shut up shop I think. It makes no sense at all to close at this time of year, and not have any stock.

Who knows maybe they will come back next week with a bright and shiny website, with oodles of stock, but its a very odd (and risky!) business model I'm sure...

Strange.
 
It's really bizarre - almost every company with a decent online presence would have a code freeze now and would certainly wait until late January to rework anything.

I'm still puzzled about the 'larger shop = less space for stock' claim as well.
 
puddleduck said:
Well my gut feel that they have effectively shut up shop I think. It makes no sense at all to close at this time of year, and not have any stock.

Who knows maybe they will come back next week with a bright and shiny website, with oodles of stock, but its a very odd (and risky!) business model I'm sure...
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My thoughts entirely. I mean, suppose for a minute that they really were moving a new store; that they really had decided that it was really cheaper to sell off the old stock and start afresh; and they really decided that a month before Christmas was the bst time to do it. Then surely there would be more information on the web site than this:
Please note that our sale is now finished and the website is now closed for maintenance. Please check back here next week for further information.
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They're gone. Smple as that.
 
I think there is no doubt about it, even if you were moving premises you wouldn't shut down your website, and as already said not at this time of year. I agree jessops must be looking dodgy, as they seemed to be struggling even before the recession.

Worrying Times
 
At least, to be fair to them, they went out with grace :'( .. they were very professional with dealing with the floods of online orders they've had, not to mention the phone calls, and walk-in clients. That, while ensuring every enquiry was answered promptly.

If anything, I'd have to say that is some of the best business practice I've seen in a long time.

Pitty that they close .... real pitty.
 
Site has now gone my end?

EDIT: Nope, its back, they had added a frame at the bottom with loads of T&Cs but thats gone, and its back as it was.
 
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So what will this mean then if more shops close down. The stronger ones will survive and have a bigger share of the market, making it for a less competitive market, prices less competitive ect. Bad for us surely?
 
Sadly, their closure is not a fault of their own. It seems that the industry turned its back on them after they've invested a huge amount of money in to their new location. As such, they will not be able to meet their financial obligations and had to do the wrost.

This I got from an "insider" who supposedly knows them very well. This source also confirmed to me that as of Monday prices may drop, but come Jan. everything is going to be pushed up by at least 15% :eek:
 
From the AJ Purdy website:
Please note that our sale is now finished and the website is now closed for maintenance. Please check back here next week for further information.All orders that were in stock have been processed and sent out and we have advised most customers who ordered items not in stock that they will not be receiving the item. For any query please use the contact us button and send us an email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Sinister? I don't think so but we shall see - Oh ye of little faith. ;)
 
Wail said:
This I got from an "insider" who supposedly knows them very well. This source also confirmed to me that as of Monday prices may drop, but come Jan. everything is going to be pushed up by at least 15% :eek:
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are you talking about purdys prices dropping, or pricing in general...

have they definitely gone then?
 
Oh, that's prices in general.

A local camera store that I deal with a lot, are working out their price increases as of now! They are starting a discount come Monday, due to lowered VAT, but will kick them back up, and then some once they open in the new year. They're kicking up prices at around 15% for non-Sony stuff. Sony stuff will be kicked up by 18%.
 
As for A. J., this store I deal with (here is Swansea) told me that they're gone for sure and even gone so far as to tell me how suppliers turned their back on A. J. due to the horrid situation in the financial market.

I sincerely hope the news I got is wrong.
 
Wail said:
As for A. J., this store I deal with (here is Swansea) told me that they're gone for sure and even gone so far as to tell me how suppliers turned their back on A. J. due to the horrid situation in the financial market.

I sincerely hope the news I got is wrong.
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such a shame to lose a proper camera shop.... but probably not the last.
 
So true. I always feel saddened when such a group of hardworking individuals find themselves running out of business because of the mess other's created.
 
Wail said:
So true. I always feel saddened when such a group of hardworking individuals find themselves running out of business because of the mess other's created.
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The Woolworths closure is having the same effect in the DVD/Music market, their distribution company handles deliveries for a lot of the big names. A lot of deliveries of xmas stock for unrelated companies nearly got seized by the administrators.....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The Woolworths closure is having the same effect in the DVD/Music market, their distribution company handles deliveries for a lot of the big names. A lot of deliveries of xmas stock for unrelated companies nearly got seized by the administrators.....
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not just music either mate, EUK deal with, music, dvds, games (ps3, xbox, pc etc) peripherals for games consoles, and games consoles so the big companies are gonna need a new distributer which buggers everyone for christmas if it does go under
 
As a side note, I saw an ad on TV this morning for Woolies....? :thinking:
 
Picked up a lens from A J Purdy last week shortly before they closed. Collected it from the warehouse which was a little strange, normally collect from their showroom. Still appeared to be quite a lot of stock there despite claiming on the phone that they were out of most things. Suspect the stock may have been sold to another dealer as a job lot and they have just been selling off the leftovers. They did not seem to be that busy either, but there was a atmosphere of cloak and dagger about it.
 
AJPurdy has gone into voluntary receivership.

This is 100% fact.
 
I've PM'd Marcel my source with 101% cast iron confirmation regarding this.

I don't feel its appropriate to divulge my source, seeing a company go down the pan is never good.
 
Aye, I've had the PM, and puddleduck has told me who his source is.
All I can say is that it's a shame to see them go.

As they're seemingly closed now, I wonder why they're not announcing it themselves?
 
There are no doubt legal hoops to jump through and all will become clear in the coming days.

They certainly won't be the last though and my sympathies to anyone losing their job.
 
thats a real shame dealt with them in buying my last two cameras excellent mail order service and customer help when i brought my d200 two days before xmas and was amazed it turned up on my door xmas eve!
 
Indeed. I'm sure all will become clear soon.

I think it's a damn shame to everyone involved in situations like this, especially so close to christmas.
 
They won't be the first or the last another dealer has ' revamped' theitr website, no sight of it being open .
 
Just checked the Companie House Webcheck and their status is listed as 'Active' - AJ Purdy
 
Active - proposal to strike off now.
 
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