Retail Therapy

In our new series about photo retailers, we talk to Tony Stent of CameraWorld

Why did you start the business?

Jason and I were at City Camera Exchange, and when Jessops took it over we decided to set up our own business. We had 50 years of experience between us and knew we could do things better. We wanted to offer a traditional camera shop experience for the modern era, with the best internet prices and a level of service the chains couldn’t offer.

We opened our first shop, in Wells St, London, in January 2000, so the business really is a millennium child. We took out double-page advertisements in AP a few weeks before we launched, so when we opened the doors on the first day we were instantly busy, and have been ever since.

Tell us about your stores

We always wanted a central London store and we were very lucky to get the Wells St location. At that time it was slightly off the beaten track, even though it’s only one minute from Oxford St, but has been very good for us.