01/04/2025
Posting on the 1st? Was closing down an elaborate, six-month-long April Fools? Sadly not. There are no more camera hijinks to be had, as yesterday I handed back the keys to the shop. Entirely empty, and ready for the next tenant to move in and make it their own exciting addition to Leeds.
Thanks to everyone that came along to the clearance sale in February and bought something to tinker with, or a piece of the shop to take home with them. It makes me really happy to know that all the cabinets, furniture and trinkets that made the place special will continue to be enjoyed by fellow nerds.
The last slide is a list of the very first items we bought at a camera fair, and the postage receipt for first item we sold online (an Olympus Trip 35, I think). The is was back in 2012 when .hort and myself were at Huddersfield university. They provided a stall on the market for one weekend a month so we could get started. There’s also a copy of the flyers we went round posting through letterboxes. If it works, it works.
Cameras and Coffee in the arcade will continue on the first Sunday of each month, so please feel free to come along now that we have the nice light of summer to enjoy on a morning. If you need advice, a tutorial on a newly acquired purchase - or just want to talk camera rubbish - then I’ll see you there.
Of course, now I have the opportunity to relax and take a break from non-stop cameras and photography. So anyway, the first thing I’m doing next week is touring the Leica factory in Wetzlar. Let me know if you want a souvenir black paint M3 bringing back.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all the customers, colleagues, friends, family, followers and anyone else involved over the years. You are what made West Yorkshire Cameras possible and enjoyable for so long.
I will miss you.
Howard.
