Wex Photographic and Calumet UK are to become Wex Photo Video from October 11 and open UK’s largest photo retail outlet.
The retailer announced the creation of their new flagship store in London today alongside the closure of Calumet’s Soho shop.
The rival companies merged earlier this year when holding company AURELIUS bought Wex Photographic from Barclays in March. It previously acquired Calumet International in 2016.
The new flagship store will cover 7,000 square feet and be located in Whitechapel, London.
It is set to be the largest of its kind in the UK with a drone flight zone, a permanent photography gallery, a theatre zone for live demos and an events space, alongside its retail area.
It will open in Commercial Rd, London, E1 in November 2017, with the team from Calumet’s soon-to-close Drummond Street shop moving to the new location then.
The Drummond Street shop is closing due to the forthcoming High Speed Two development.
The rebranding and relocation has led to closures, however, with the announcement that Calumet’s smaller London shop on Wardour Street, Soho, will close for business before Christmas 2017. The company has said it will try to keep job losses to a minimum.
Other brand announcements include that Wex’s Norwich showroom will be rebadged immediately as Wex Photo Video while other Calumet shops will be gradually rebranded throughout 2018.
Wex CEO David Garratt said: “This investment in range and shops illustrates our ongoing promise to help the country’s photographers and videographers fulfil their creative goals.”
Calumet is a retailer of both branded and own-label digital and analogue photographic and video equipment with 17 locations across Europe, including six in Germany and eight in the UK.
Wex Photographic, which acquired repair and rental specialist Fixation in 2015, is the UK’s largest online specialist photography retailer. It sells over 17,000 products on its website and already has a 4,300sq. ft showroom based in Norwich.
