This has been a difficult decision. After an incredible 12 year journey, West Yorkshire Cameras has reached the end of the roll. We are closing.
Sunday the 17th of November will be the last day the shop will be open to the public. After this, we will continue to operate online as usual whilst we wind down our stock with the intention to close completely by February 2025. See our other post for information about the Goodbye Sale.
All of us at West Yorkshire Cameras want to remain a part of the film photography community going forward, so as we finish everything up, we are still committed to providing quality, honest service that we’ve built the shop around for the last decade.
All orders will be dispatched as usual, and you will be able to collect online orders at the shop by prior arrangement if you prefer. All existing warranty periods on past purchases are still valid, and all gift card holders will be contacted to advise on using any remaining balance. If you have equipment with us for sale or any other reasons, don’t worry - we’ll get through it as normal.
I understand that this may seem like sudden news. Rest assured that it has been a considered decision. All the camera nerds on the team have been aware for a couple of months so they can figure out their next steps, as well as being given full redundancy payments.
I’d love to have made this announcement to all of you earlier, but the nature of our business and the requirement to keep turning over equipment to pay for rent and wages etc. has meant that we couldn’t risk customer confidence being knocked and our trade taking a dive as a result. I am aware of other businesses (and another past camera shop, specifically) making some decisions in regards to closing down which resulted in customers and staff losing out. That’s not what I want here. We needed time to prepare and I wanted to give the team as much notice as possible - so we had to keep going as usual. Being unable to be open about it has been really tough and sincere apologies for anyone disappointed that we will be closing our doors or looking forward to visiting.
The decision to wind down the shop did not come overnight. A combination of business and personal factors have contributed towards it. Our lease at the Grand Arcade has come to an end. Whether we stayed in our current location or not, I have had to reflect upon whether committing to another 5-10 year period of running the shop was something that I felt would be viable financially and personally.
The cost of running a shop in a city centre is high. Wages, rent, utilities, taking the bins out. Stuff you never even think of until you have to pay for it. There is constant upwards pressure on these costs too. Everything is rising all the time. The obligation of our costs is constant, whilst the supply and demand in a market made up of second-hand goods is unpredictable.
The requirement to source, assess, acquire, process, repair and sell tens of thousands of pounds of quality stock every month is a labour and capital intensive task. It’s true that we are really busy, but we have to be, just to stand still. It takes a toll on all of us to manage that amount of demand, on both equipment coming in and orders going out. Every camera, lens and accessory has its own condition and must be thoroughly assessed individually and valued. Almost every customer on both the buying and selling sides has a unique requirement to meet.
The volume of equipment and customers to go through means having enough space for a team of dedicated, passionate camera nerds with a combined depth and breadth of knowledge. A team who all absolutely deserve a good above-average wage, and one that befits the experience and energy they bring to the operation.
Speaking of which, I’d like to thank everyone here at West Yorkshire Cameras for their sterling effort helping to make the shop what it has become. If you know of a cool photography business seeking a world-class nerd - or you just want to keep up with the next steps of our individual adventures, hit up:
- Adam French @kamick1212
- Dan Walsh @d.w_phoart
- Emmie Penkett @emmie.takes.photos
- Louisa Muir @louisamuir
- Mabel Hall @mabel.photos
- Mike Medlock @mike_medlock
- Steve Boylin @steve.boylin
And myself, Howard Parker @PhotoHoward
How to offset costs and bring in more revenue? Just buy and sell more, right? Unfortunately, finding lots of good quality stock all the time is hard, and scaling up to meet these demands comes with diminishing returns. Whether you agree with it or not, a trade barrier between the UK and Europe now exists. Added taxes for importing and exporting goods means that, to any meaningful extent, we are limited to the increasingly competitive market of the UK for sourcing classic photographic equipment.
Supplementing our second-hand equipment sales with new products is something that we have been doing, and we have considered expanding into different services. New products come with relatively slim margins and a lot of competition. Offering repairs, developing, courses - each of those are totally full-time standalone businesses by themselves if you want to do it properly- which of course we would.
We could increase our prices for second-hand kit to the lofty figures that some of the more questionable online sellers are asking. We could cut costs by closing the shop and continuing online out of a warehouse or unit, but that would still mean Leeds is without an independent camera shop, and we’d have no walk-in trade. There would be a similar amount of rent and wages to pay anyway.
Fundamentally though, on a personal level, I don’t want to dilute or move away from what the shop has always been about. Fair prices, good service and a shop you can come into. Pick up the items and talk about nerdy camera stuff with someone else that wants to talk about nerdy camera stuff. Compromising on any of these things and having an entirely profit-driven mentality would mean it wouldn’t be the same West Yorkshire Cameras any more, and I simply wouldn’t enjoy doing so. This has always been a business that has been run for the love of it, and not for pure profit.
Taking into consideration these factors - and more besides - plus the lease coming to an end, it feels like a natural opportunity to wind down West Yorkshire Cameras, and move on to the first frame of something new. Perhaps I may finally find time to go out and use some of these cameras?
A huge thank you to all the customers, colleagues, friends in the industry, people of Leeds, and anyone else who we have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Even those people that call up every now and again thinking we give out speeding fines, thanks for giving us a laugh. There are so many familiar faces and names that we will miss.
We have reached out to some other businesses in the industry to discuss whether anyone else would like to start their own independent camera shop in Leeds. Hopefully someone enterprising out there is ready to carry the baton and will make it bigger and better than we have.
If you are free, please join us on Saturday 16th November, 5pm at Santiago Bar, Leeds Grand Arcade. I would be very happy to buy you a drink. If you can’t make it, I would like to continue Cameras & Coffee on the first Sunday of every month in the arcade for the foreseeable future.
I hope to si’thi’ in a bit.
~Howard 😺