Bowens (& Calumet) sold to German investment company

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MidnightUK

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http://news.sky.com/story/1707864/photography-chain-seeks-focus-with-aurelius

http://www.diyphotography.net/calumet-photographic-bowens-lighting-acquired-buy-aurelius/

"Sky News‎ understands that Aurelius - which has backed companies such as Scholl, the footwear manufacturer, and the cosmetic surgery provider Transform - will announce on Tuesday the acquisition of Calumet International."

Guess that explains the Photography Show pull out and why Calumet seemed last week to have nothing much in stock anywhere of its own brand goods.
 
Thought this was an option when Christiane Brock was appointed as director in Feb. She's on the board of the investment fund. There's only one other director (John Gobbi) and he's only been there a year. The workforce has also shrunk dramatically over the last few years. No wonder they've not released anything worth talking about for ages. I do think the lack of new products was also a factor in them pulling out of the show. It would be a shame if Bowens closed down - lets hope they have a plan. Likewise Calumet - I try and buy higher value items from Calumet in Manchester - just because they are always helpful, and they are the last remaining shop around here with anything more than consumer stuff in it. It's nice to be able to look at stuff sometimes.
 
Sounds like something to be worried about but I've not heard of the company that bought them so who knows.

They probably can't do a worse job of running the firms than the previous owners.
 
I had not caught on the 2 companies were linked before this, though had seen Bowens on sale in the local Calumet. I hope Calumet does not get asset stripped and closed - there is no where else around here to get grip, lightstands and suchlike from.
 
MidnightUK said:
I had not caught on the 2 companies were linked before this, though had seen Bowens on sale in the local Calumet. I hope Calumet does not get asset stripped and closed - there is no where else around here to get grip, lightstands and suchlike from.
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I order most of my grip equipment from online retailers, if you're going to Calumet in London then TFC is only 10 minutes walk away and does stock some pieces from time to time.
 
I must admit that this is not the most reassuring news.
I've been using Bowens monos for some time now and have been very happy with them.
I've also been very happy with my dealings with Calumet (including buying ex-demo Bowens monos).

You never know, though - this might actually turn out to be a good thing.
Yeah, I know, keeping my fingers crossed and trying to remain positive... :rolleyes:
 
Was disappointed initially when they backed out of the Photo Show, but now feeling it was for the best personally. I bought from Lencarta instead who were both fast and very good to deal with personally and who gave me a very good price deal for multi purchase(thank you Gary).

I would be worrying now if I had bought Bowens, just in case they and Calumet end up on the Green/BHS route. I will only by buying in stock stuff at my local Calumet for a while, not going to do internet orders given the last week or so before the announcement they had nothing of their own brand in stock anywhere. Shame as have found Calumet local is good to deal with, with nice helpful staff. Will support them locally where I can.
 
Personally, I've always respected Bowens as a manufacturer. They invented mono studio lighting and always produced good, solid units with good after sales service.
Then they moved their production to China, and according to customers, things changed.
The big advantage of actually making products in China is the potentially lower operating costs and the huge human resources, with some of the very best engineers available in the hi-tech areas, but Bowens moved to a place that was neither cheap nor in the right place. And, for it to work in China, the factory needs to be fully employed, 6 days a week.

So, they've been sold - again. Let's hope that the new owners inject the needed resources into them, and help them to produce new products that can be sold at competitive prices, because if that doesn't happen then it's inevitable that they will be sold to a Chinese manufacturer, and if that happens they will simply become a logo of that manufacturer.

IMO, the fact that Bowens and Calumet have been owned by the same manufacturer has kept Bowens afloat, because there are very few other retailers around to buy their products. They have also benefited, in the past, from legacy sales to
1. Colleges and schools
2. Military
3. Professional studios
But competitors have made serious inroads into that legacy business (sorry about that:) ) and generally, the amateur market is buying elsewhere too, because more and more people are either buying soley on price and forgetting about the all-important warranty and customer service, or simply buying hotshoe flashguns because they're cheap and because they believe that lighting is about quantity of light rather than quality, and because (for studio use) improvements to digital camera technology mean that a low powered flashgun is perceived by many to be adequate.

My own view is that their repeated changes to ownership and to their own management aren't going to be enough for them to survive and prosper, but there may still be enough time for them if they change their business model and introduce the right products at the right prices. I sincerely that they will.
 
They probably need a greater selection of portable pack systems. Studio lights are great but they don't have much selection in the portable area.
 
PPPPP said:
They probably need a greater selection of portable pack systems. Studio lights are great but they don't have much selection in the portable area.
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The irony being they had portable options many many years ago, I mean how old are the Explorer generators and the Travelpak system?
 
simonbarker said:
The irony being they had portable options many many years ago, I mean how old are the Explorer generators and the Travelpak system?
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I know that they were working on a new portable flash system over a year ago. I don't have full details but assume it to be one of the new products that they've said they're going to launch - but they need to do a lot more than just launch some new products.
 
The explorer system is probably more like what they need, although from memory it is no longer made. The travel pack system will work on location, but there ate some limitations. That may be OK if you only do location work occasionally, but for regular use it is less ideal.
 
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