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Snapshot on the bright side of the road

Everything about Jill and Graham Boswell’s new store in Hamilton, NZ, will be bigger – except the name.

Graham and Jill Boswell. (Source: Retail News, NZ.)
Graham and Jill Boswell. (Source: Retail News, NZ.)

When the doors open on the new, improved store in August it will be simply Snapshot, whereas the old store was Snapshot Cameras.

‘Industry colleagues are watching our move with interest – while some of our colleagues have closed shop recently, we have decided to expand!’ said Jill Boswell.

The name change was to reflect the fact that the business was about more than cameras.

‘We had a vision of a new store that still sold cameras and accessories but embraced mobile phones and encouraged people to archive and print the photos that matter – whatever the capture device – and to print more than 6x4s – pictures they can hang on their walls,’ she said .

The bigger, brighter store is on the same street in Hamilton, Victoria Street, but closer to the CBD. The original photographic business, founded in 1928, was bought by Graham’s father Maurice in 1946 and has only moved once before in its long history. It has been in the same building for 58 years. Jill and Graham’s son Sam who also works at Snapshot, represents the third generation of Boswells in photo retailing.

The Boswells have always been willing to 'have a go', and use events like 'World Photo Day' and 'Save Your Photos Day' as a platform to promote photography. (Crazy kids - that will never work!) Pictured here is the 'Daguerreovan', part of a World Photo Day 2012 promotion by Snapshot.
The Boswells have always been willing to ‘have a go’, and use events like ‘World Photo Day’ and ‘Save Your Photos Day’ as a platform to promote photography. (Crazy kids – that will never work!) Pictured here is the ‘Daguerreovan’, part of a World Photo Day 2012 promotion by Snapshot.

The new store at 391 Victoria St (moving from 226 Victoria), offers three times the floor space, with room for a dedicated lecture room, studio, and customer hospitality space. There will also be sit down, mobile-friendly kiosks allowing customers to print pictures straight from their smartphones. Snapshot also has online ordering facilities for both hardware and photo services, ‘Powered by Dakis’.

With more space available, the printing and image decor side of the business will expand from an already comprehensive range, with more services offered in store.

‘We also wanted to expand our education offerings,’ said Jill. ‘We needed a store that could accommodate all this and more and we eventually found one. Refurbishment is under way and the official opening is scheduled for August 19 – World Photo Day – another event we embrace each year.’

Prior to the new store’s opening Jill will travel to the US to attend the IPIC 2015 event in Las Vegas – with a sharp eye out for any new techniques or services to take back to offer Snapshot customers.

One Comment

  1. Congrats Graham, Jill and Sam! All the best with your opening and new larger store. I’m sure in your case fortune will follow the brave. Nice to see a positive story of a business growing too Keith.

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