Dublin Camera Exchange closing

magicbastarder

only just heard about this now - a pity. they must be in business over 30 years, and i'd know a few of the guys in there by first name.

the number of different camera retailers in the city centre now would probably be countable on one hand.

Tiriel

Yeah I saw a lovely tribute to them posted on FB by a photographer, a lot of history. Sad to see those places close.

magicbastarder

i bought my first camera in there, a secondhand OM1.

Tiriel

They were great for prints but I am guilty of not printing enough and when I do, doing so last minute for club competitions and ending up going to somewhere that has them in 30 mins.. quality isn't the same.

They were really helpful and very good value too

sunny2004

I dealt with Bill and Sean from the beginning, does anyone remember when they had 2 branches ?

magicbastarder

yep, there's a jewellers now in the premises on trinity street.
the place with the trapdoor behind the counter.

uck51js9zml2yt

What are they doing with their stock?
When are they closing?

sunny2004

ahhh I now have to correct myself, they actually had 3 branches... I just remembered..

magicbastarder

Clyde Savory Cocaine wrote: »

What are they doing with their stock?
When are they closing?

i got the impression today was the last day.

sunny2004

They had a branch in Dawson street.

magicbastarder

i'd forgotten about that.

sunny2004

and I forgot about trinity street
Wasn't that the first one ?

magicbastarder

i think so.

sunny2004

Yes,
Trinity Street,
Dawson Street, sold to an employee shortly after..
and Georges street..

Sean retired some years ago as I understand, leaving Billy in charge..


Its a shame, but a sign of the times.

magicbastarder

billy told me the building is sold, probably going to be a restaurant.

sunny2004

and I am left wondering if we both ever stood in any of the shops at the same time haha

CabanSail

It's a pity.

I thought they closed down a while ago but maybe that was when it was announced.

They were a good company to deal with and very helpful.

magicbastarder

sunny2004 wrote: »

and I am left wondering if we both ever stood in any of the shops at the same time haha

my dad used to get his cameras in there and knew billy and sean well, so i was going in with him from a fairly early age.

thebaz

knew it was closing , but didn't realise the doors had finally closed - real shame , had a lot of time for Billy and the boys , did a fair amount of business in ther, much prefer browsing in a real camera shop , than the Soulless online world of today.

amdgilmore

thebaz wrote: »

much prefer browsing in a real camera shop , than the Soulless online world of today.

Obviously I sympathise with them, but the writing's on the wall for all these camera shops. It's not their fault, it's just that the gear is ludicrously expensive.

I'm sure we all know the spending never ends once you take up this hobby, so any opportunity to get a few quid off is welcome. Low overheads mean low prices.

Splinters

I have to agree. Its very sad to hear of anyone's business closing especially one with so much history. Unfortunately its just the way things have gone with bricks and mortar shops. Online retail leads to reduced costs leading to reduced prices. That's going to win with consumers every time. In an ideal world I'm sure most of us would rather the option of physically going in to purchase our new camera or lens. Realistically with the typical high cost of these things if I can save 40% of the cost by getting it online then that's where my money is going to go.

magicbastarder

i've never bought anything photographic online, bar a knackered OM1 body off adverts. all my purchases have been in gunns, camera exchange, or from a friend.

i was once humming and hawwing over a S/H bronica ETRS in the camera exchange. so padraig just told me to take it for a week or two and decide after i'd used it for a bit. that's the sort of service you don't get elsewhere.

TomCo

Splinters wrote: »

I have to agree. Its very sad to hear of anyone's business closing especially one with so much history. Unfortunately its just the way things have gone with bricks and mortar shops. Online retail leads to reduced costs leading to reduced prices. That's going to win with consumers every time. In an ideal world I'm sure most of us would rather the option of physically going in to purchase our new camera or lens. Realistically with the typical high cost of these things if I can save 40% of the cost by getting it online then that's where my money is going to go.

There's a still a market for consumables, especially in the film word.
John Gunn has carved out a nice niche in that respect.

sunny2004

TomCo wrote: »

There's a still a market for consumables, especially in the film word.
John Gunn has carved out a nice niche in that respect.

Hasn't his daughter taken over ? or is he still working there ?

TomCo

Nope, he's still manning the counter, at least he was when I picked up some prints a few weeks ago.

sunny2004

Good to hear, I like the guy..
But his daughter works there right ?
I'm starting to sound like I'm obsessing about his daughter lol

magicbastarder

yep; that'd be kathy. not sure if the other daughter still works there too?

TomCo

I'm not sure, I know they tend to man the machines in the back.
Sure why don't you give him a ring now and ask where his daughters are?

sunny2004

TomCo wrote: »

I'm not sure, I know they tend to man the machines in the back.
Sure why don't you give him a ring now and ask where his daughters are?

I love you Kathy, I only met you once about 5 years ago, never thought of you again, but its all flooding back to me now in this thread

Disclaimer, if you are reading this John or Kathy, I'm joking..

thebaz

amdgilmore wrote: »

Obviously I sympathise with them, but the writing's on the wall for all these camera shops. It's not their fault, it's just that the gear is ludicrously expensive.

I'm sure we all know the spending never ends once you take up this hobby, so any opportunity to get a few quid off is welcome. Low overheads mean low prices.

always think you are better of handling a camera before purchasing , and if you don't know much about cameras the advice from Billy or at Gunns is invaluable. Maybe cheaper online,but if something goes wrong the hassle is horrific in most cases - where I can I will shop (and recommend others) to shop in an Irish camera shop - rather than enriching Amazon or others. Part of the experience of buying a camera is browsing in a real shop - I'm old school on this and make no apologies.

sunny2004

thebaz wrote: »

always think you are better of handling a camera before purchasing , and if you don't know much about cameras the advice from Billy or at Gunns is invaluable. Maybe cheaper online,but if something goes wrong the hassle is horrific in most cases - where I can I will shop (and recommend others) to shop in an Irish camera shop - rather than enriching Amazon or others. Part of the experience of buying a camera is browsing in a real shop - I'm old school on this and make no apologies.

no apologies required. But due to whatever reason you are in the minority. if you were not then they might be still open..

Most today are simply looking for the lowest price, if you want to handle a camera you can go to dixons/curry, until they one day also go online only...

its a sign of the times... has its advantages and disadvantages..

thebaz

sunny2004 wrote: »

no apologies required. But due to whatever reason you are in the minority. if you were not then they might be still open..

Most today are simply looking for the lowest price, if you want to handle a camera you can go to dixons/curry, until they one day also go online only...

its a sign of the times... has its advantages and disadvantages..

I guess who needs bricks & motors shops anymore with a human touch and a little expertise ? - goodbye

sunny2004

thebaz wrote: »

I guess who needs a bricks & motors & expertise shops anymore ? - goodbye

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for bricks and mortar..
But when I look at the price of cameras in the likes of conns, and then online, no matter how justified by the shop overheads, I cant justify the difference in my pocket..

They cant compete, and the Value added part of the service is clearly not enough..

Again sad news for Billy and Sean and staff..

magicbastarder

conns were 10%+ more expensive than gunns when i was helping a family friend spend €2000+ on a camera for a partner a year or two back - with a promise that the money was completely refundable if said partner would prefer nikon to canon. again, you cannot buy that online.

i agree completely that people are looking for the lowest price. but how many of them are using bricks and mortar shops as their research, before buying online and undermining the shops whose good will they had used? that's a parameter i'd be interested in seeing quantified...

sunny2004

magicbastarder wrote: »

conns were 10%+ more expensive than gunns when i was helping a family friend spend €2000+ on a camera for a partner a year or two back - with a promise that the money was completely refundable if said partner would prefer nikon to canon. again, you cannot buy that online.

i agree completely that people are looking for the lowest price. but how many of them are using bricks and mortar shops as their research, before buying online and undermining the shops whose good will they had used? that's a parameter i'd be interested in seeing quantified...

I agree with the latter, personally, I have never handled ( shops or friends) any camera I have bought in the last 10 years.. approx. 20+ cameras, Digital and film.. Bought a couple of bummers lol but mostly they were what I expected..

Before that I used Billy and purchases from him..

km991148

magicbastarder wrote: »

i agree completely that people are looking for the lowest price. but how many of them are using bricks and mortar shops as their research, before buying online and undermining the shops whose good will they had used? that's a parameter i'd be interested in seeing quantified...

ye - seems a lot do this, I remember when buying my first camera a few years back (Fuji x10 - not a hugely expensive camera, but a fairly decent p&s) it took a lot to convince the store owner that I was a serious buyer. I barely got to touch it, never mind trying it before buying!

mdebets

According to the Irish Times it's because Billy wants to retire and make a killing on selling the building.

sunny2004

mdebets wrote: »

According to the Irish Times it's because Billy wants to retire and make a killing on selling the building.

Not sure about the validity and assumption of making a killing. As it depends on many factors. Billy is a smart guy, and has put his time in so I wish him all the best.

imme

Again, sad to see another camera shop close.
All the best to the staff.

CabanSail

mdebets wrote: »

According to the Irish Times it's because Billy wants to retire and make a killing on selling the building.

If he were able to sell the building and business together he would have made more. Due to the reasons discussed here there would not be a market for a Camera Shop, so it's a sale of the premises alone.

Tipp16

I went to Dublin Camera Exchange on Georges Street today only to find it is closed.
Would anyone have a name , phone number or address where i could contact someone as i have photos which are very sentimental left in to be processed.

secman

Sent you a pm just now with the owners names and addresses which I got from CRO records. Hopefully this is of some help.

magicbastarder

did they not tell you when you dropped them in that they were closing?

tunguska

Just found out the camera exchange is closed. I have a gift token to the value of 150 quid thats valid til 31st dec 2016. My bro had gone in to get another token so i could get a camera after christmas. Any ideas about how i would go about getting my money back or even contacting the owners?
Thanks

uck51js9zml2yt

tunguska wrote: »

Just found out the camera exchange is closed. I have a gift token to the value of 150 quid thats valid til 31st dec 2016. My bro had gone in to get another token so i could get a camera after christmas. Any ideas about how i would go about getting my money back or even contacting the owners?
Thanks

I reckon you've lost out. The shop doesn't exist anymore.

CabanSail

I think it's all wound up and so the voucher is now probably useless.

magicbastarder

might be worth giving the citizen's advice bureau or similar - the camera exchange did not close due to insolvency, it closed due to billy retiring. maybe there's some clause regarding honouring creditors (and the legal status of someone holding a voucher is not great) when you close down a solvent business. IANAL, etc. etc.

uck51js9zml2yt

A voucher holder is an unsecured creditor so is way down the food chain.
Normally in cases were a business is winding up, a certain or is allowed for creditors to make themselves known and lodge a claim. When creditors are sorted the company is dissolved.
There is no one to claim against.
Save yourself the effort. It's a wild goose chase.

sunny2004

Clyde Savory Cocaine wrote: »

A voucher holder is an unsecured creditor so is way down the food chain.
Normally in cases were a business is winding up, a certain or is allowed for creditors to make themselves known and lodge a claim. When creditors are sorted the company is dissolved.
There is no one to claim against.
Save yourself the effort. It's a wild goose chase.

agree with this. bitter pill to swallow.

sunny2004

secman wrote: »

Sent you a pm just now with the owners names and addresses which I got from CRO records. Hopefully this is of some help.

tunguska wrote: »

Just found out the camera exchange is closed. I have a gift token to the value of 150 quid thats valid til 31st dec 2016. My bro had gone in to get another token so i could get a camera after christmas. Any ideas about how i would go about getting my money back or even contacting the owners?
Thanks

worth a letter i suppose.

JosDel

Sad to hear that, bought my 1st decent camera there in the 80s...