Ted’s Cameras purchases Paxtons stores

(UPDATE Nov 28) Ted’s Cameras has purchased the Paxtons group of camera stores, with the transaction to be finalised on Thursday, December 1.

The three stores comprising Paxton Camera Video and Digital are located in Hornsby, Parramatta and Chatswood in Westfield shopping centres. Paxtons also had stores in Brookvale, Bondi and the Macquarie Centre, Ryde but these were closed in the past few years.

Ted’s Cameras informed suppliers the three remaining stores will retain the Paxton’s name ‘until early 2017’ although in a report in a CE trade website this had changed to ‘the forseeable future.’

‘Paxtons is an iconic NSW imaging retail brand that we are privileged to welcome to the Ted’s family,’ said Ted’s CEO Nic Peasley. ‘The staff at Paxtons are all long serving loyal retailers and will be critical to the future success of this business under the Ted’s structure.

‘Teds will now have an excellent footprint in Sydney which includes our flagship Pitt Street CBD store and the three Paxtons locations. We would like to extend our thanks to the Paxton family for the professional way in which they have handled the sale and transition of the business to Teds.’

PhotoCounter believes the majority of Paxtons’ retail staff will be retained by Ted’s.

The former head office and city store at 285 George Street was closed earlier this year with the Paxton business understood to be required to vacate the premises with only a week’s notice. The building is earmarked for a major retail and office development of the Wynard Station precinct.

The closure of the stores and apparent  demise of the Paxton’s retail brand marks the end of an era in the Australian photo retailing scene. EJ Paxton I, the grandfather of the current and long-standing managing director, John Paxton, opened an optician’s business in Sydney in 1908. Paxtons began selling cameras in 1957. John Paxton joined the business in 1965 and Paxtons Photographics, and latter Paxtons Camera Video Digital, has been one of the leading independent photo retailers in Sydney for over 50 years.

John and his wife Marcia and two sons Michael and Matthew represent the third and fourth generations of the family working in the business.