What ever happened to....

And if I remember correctly, Fishwicks supplied my Cibachrome kits.
 
droj said:
Ah, so you did ... ;).
Click to expand...
The early 80s saw them selling many popular makes of cameras and lenses at competitive prices. I never managed to visit their shop but remember their adverts in various photography magazines.
 
I think mail order was a staple of their trade. But the warehouse / shop was near the East Lancs Road / M6 junction. Did I ever see the eponymous Eric Fishwick? Probably not - but wasn't there a son ....?
 
My first job out of college (tech, not uni!) was at KP Professional Sales, the wholesale arm of Campkins of Cambridge. Campkins had been going for almost 200 years, having started as chemists (chemists being where photographers bought everything to make emulsions and developing chemicals originally) They also supplied surgical appliances and in a town with a major university stethoscopes and everything else a junior doctor needed!
Digital did for the wholesale part of the business, we had one customer who used to buy 40-50 boxes of 5x4 Polaroid alone a week! Campkins had 6 shops in Cambridge, plus branches in Finchley Road and Bond Street in London, Lincoln, Peterborough, Newmarket and Dublin. Now it’s down to one shop opposite Kings College in Cambridge.
 
Willid1 said:
Joe's Basement closed a couple of years ago.

P+C and KJ merged to become KJP and then KJP (Keith Johnson and Pelling) was in turn bought out by Calumet.



I have a very good friend who was a technical sales rep at the Birmingham branch of KJ/KJP and his major bug bear was customers who came in to bend his ear for an hour looking at a new piece of equipment then went off to buy it at Jessops or the like because they were a few pounds cheaper. This was in the days before Internet shopping - God that makes me feel old.

David
Click to expand...
I know this thread is very old but just in case anyone does a KJP search as I have just done I thought I would correct it.

First, the reason I was searching is that Keith Johnson sadly passed away a couple of days ago.

My credentials are that I joined KJP on 1st Ocotber 2004 and worked for the company through the sale of it by KJ in 1987 until 1999 when I was a director of Keith Johnson and Pelling, by then owned by Wolsely Plc.

As I said, Keith sold Keith Johnson Photographic tok Wosllyh Plc in June 1987. We merged with our fierce and sometimes bitter rivals Pelling and Cross, who were already ownd ny Wolsely. Ghe Pellin g and Cross company was renamed Keith Johnson and Pelling as the KJP brand had a better market reputation. Keith left about 1 year later.

Wolsely then attempted to buy the USA comoany Caujmet in a deal brokered by Promandis, the holding company for KJ+P and Bowens but this fell through at the last minute due to a global financial crisis.

Eventually in the mid 90s freh deal did take place and Wolsely purchased Calumet. Calumet never bought or took over KJP although they did have management influence and some control. In the early 2,000s KJP was rebranded asCalumet. Calumet USA subsequnetly wentinto liquidation and KJP now Calumet in UK and in Europe, after various ownerships were rebranded into the Wex brand.
 
francisdmn said:
I know this thread is very old but just in case anyone does a KJP search as I have just done I thought I would correct it.

First, the reason I was searching is that Keith Johnson sadly passed away a couple of days ago.

My credentials are that I joined KJP on 1st Ocotber 2004 and worked for the company through the sale of it by KJ in 1987 until 1999 when I was a director of Keith Johnson and Pelling, by then owned by Wolsely Plc.

As I said, Keith sold Keith Johnson Photographic tok Wosllyh Plc in June 1987. We merged with our fierce and sometimes bitter rivals Pelling and Cross, who were already ownd ny Wolsely. Ghe Pellin g and Cross company was renamed Keith Johnson and Pelling as the KJP brand had a better market reputation. Keith left about 1 year later.

Wolsely then attempted to buy the USA comoany Caujmet in a deal brokered by Promandis, the holding company for KJ+P and Bowens but this fell through at the last minute due to a global financial crisis.

Eventually in the mid 90s freh deal did take place and Wolsely purchased Calumet. Calumet never bought or took over KJP although they did have management influence and some control. In the early 2,000s KJP was rebranded asCalumet. Calumet USA subsequnetly wentinto liquidation and KJP now Calumet in UK and in Europe, after various ownerships were rebranded into the Wex brand.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info' and update...I remember visiting KJP in nottingham, I was like a kid in a sweetshop!
 
francisdmn said:
I know this thread is very old but just in case anyone does a KJP search as I have just done I thought I would correct it.

First, the reason I was searching is that Keith Johnson sadly passed away a couple of days ago.

My credentials are that I joined KJP on 1st Ocotber 2004 and worked for the company through the sale of it by KJ in 1987 until 1999 when I was a director of Keith Johnson and Pelling, by then owned by Wolsely Plc.

As I said, Keith sold Keith Johnson Photographic tok Wosllyh Plc in June 1987. We merged with our fierce and sometimes bitter rivals Pelling and Cross, who were already ownd ny Wolsely. Ghe Pellin g and Cross company was renamed Keith Johnson and Pelling as the KJP brand had a better market reputation. Keith left about 1 year later.

Wolsely then attempted to buy the USA comoany Caujmet in a deal brokered by Promandis, the holding company for KJ+P and Bowens but this fell through at the last minute due to a global financial crisis.

Eventually in the mid 90s freh deal did take place and Wolsely purchased Calumet. Calumet never bought or took over KJP although they did have management influence and some control. In the early 2,000s KJP was rebranded asCalumet. Calumet USA subsequnetly wentinto liquidation and KJP now Calumet in UK and in Europe, after various ownerships were rebranded into the Wex brand.
Click to expand...
I can recall a lot of the changes. My father, Dennis Hall, worked for Pelling and Cross/KJP for many years and, as a teenager, I worked the school holidays on the D&P counter at Pellings in Baker Street.
Very interesting to read about their more recent history. Would never have known they rebranded to Wex. Strangely, this has been my shop of choice when purchasing equipment for my husband!
 
Kemp C said:
I can recall a lot of the changes. My father, Dennis Hall, worked for Pelling and Cross/KJP for many years and, as a teenager, I worked the school holidays on the D&P counter at Pellings in Baker Street.
Very interesting to read about their more recent history. Would never have known they rebranded to Wex. Strangely, this has been my shop of choice when purchasing equipment for my husband!
Click to expand...
It's funny how things work out isn't it!
 
Reading about KJP made me wonder about KP Professional in Cambridge... When I lived in Huntingdon between 1990 &1997 we had the choice of no camera shops in Huntingdon or Tecno, Jessops, 3 x Campkins, King's Parade and KP Professional in Cambridge...

Bought many of my M645 accessories from KP Prof, plus Elinchrom lighting kit - they admitted competition from Warehouse Express was hurting them even 10 years before they closed shop...
 
welshwizard645 said:
Reading about KJP made me wonder about KP Professional in Cambridge... When I lived in Huntingdon between 1990 &1997 we had the choice of no camera shops in Huntingdon or Tecno, Jessops, 3 x Campkins, King's Parade and KP Professional in Cambridge...

Bought many of my M645 accessories from KP Prof, plus Elinchrom lighting kit - they admitted competition from Warehouse Express was hurting them even 10 years before they closed shop...
Click to expand...
I worked for KP Professional from 1979-1990 when I was sent to Cambridge Camera Exchange on Kings Parade after a difference of views with the manager. I started at Quayside, then moved to Clifton Road, after leaving I occasionaly did some freelance work to cover staff shortages in 2000
 
Last edited:
My Beard 20x16 4 blade easel came from KJP. As did an enlarging lens and probably lots of other things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top