York Cameras have gone

Musicman

Musicman

Messages
9,002
Name
Rob Telford
Edit My Images
No
I popped round at lunch yesterday to have a look at some camera bags and discovered that York Cameras in Bury Place, near the British Museum, have closed up shop some time in August, according to the chap that runs City Cameras just round the corner. The shop unit is empty.

Pity, as they were a useful source of bits and bobs and had a fairly extensive stock of film cameras and parts and, while they were a bit more expensive than Ffordes and LCE, relatively reasonably price compared to a lot of the other camera shops in the immediate area. :(

Their web site seems to be still up, but there were no signs up in the windows to indicate that they've moved or are still trading online, so I suspect that's just an oversight.
 
I walked past there a few weeks back and they were clearing out the last of their stock. I did stick my head in the door and ask what was going on but there wasn't much more than a mumbled and resigned response.
Sad to see them go, unfortunately I feel that it will be the future for most high st camera shops. Still, at least we still have Amazon (y)
 
The most annoying thing is they had what they thought was probably a base plate for a Canon F-1 (the early 70s model) tucked away in a box of bits and I'd been meaning to take mine in to see if it fitted, but have just been too busy at work over the last few weeks. :(

Mine came with a motor drive that I don't want to have to lug about all the time, and no base plate for the body.
 
Last edited:
Londond? right.. six posts before I got it as well..
 
Surprising that some independent places have lasted as long as they have. "Competition" from grey imports and places like Amazon that don't have to worry about pesky things like pay taxes, would be a nightmare to deal with.

Most small, and some of the bigger, places over here have gone in the last couple of years. Though a new place has popped up on the high street that is very cheap - Asian grey prices. They're offering Aussie warranties though, not sure what the deal is, but seems strange for them to have a high street presence. (Only selling the latest and greatest of course, have to go market hunting if you want anything more than five years old).

KIPAX said:
Londond? right.. six posts before I got it as well..
Click to expand...

Yea, the British Museum near Bury Place in York is great isn't it? ;)
 
The High Street camera shop is sadly well down the road to all but disappear, with the exception of a few. Those surviving seem to specialise in in used gear. This is welcome and a good thing, but they are few and far between. I had a great visit to West Yorkshire Cameras earlier in the year, came away with a Nikkormat, several lenses and had a good chat to Tom. It is though a long trip from rural East Anglia!

I visited my home town of Birmingham recently, I left 27 years ago, then heading south to the smoke! Back then there were 9 camera shops in the city centre (one of which I worked in on Saturdays and school holidays, my misspent youth!) the grand total in the countries second largest city is now zero!

The demise of the camera shop is an illustration of some much wider and in my view worrying, trends in our culture!
 
Last edited:
With high renting costs, business rates etc in cities it isn't surprising why some shops are suffering, so the prices of the goods go up to make a profit, and then everyone goes online to get things cheaper. I was looking at film gear in the camera shop in Watford and while it might be better to buy a camera at a high price with a guarantee, with lenses there is less to go wrong and on the bay you can send it back if faulty......so why pay £120 for a lens in the shop when the same lens is £50-£80 on the bay.
 
Last edited:
Jayst84 said:
Yea, the British Museum near Bury Place in York is great isn't it? ;)
Click to expand...


I hope that means somehting to you because its totally gone right over my head ?
 
Jayst84 said:
Well it took you 6 posts to work out it was in London, when the OP mentions the British Museum and a London Street. Just sayin' (as the kids say) :)
Click to expand...


Well I ahve only ever been in one museum in my life and i dont recall the name but it wasnt in london... and i wouldnt recognise london street names and wouldnt presume one was unique to london anyway..

Just sayin..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top