Anyone remember Mr Cad and Alex Falk

I remember him as the archetypal "wheeler dealer" some of the kit was old s***e with inflated prices so people thought they'd negotiated a great deal when they got money knocked off. 

T&B Photographic in Romford in the 80s and 90s :)

The one on London Bridge Walk ? (which oddly I have forgotten the name of)

There where often great Hi-Fi shops (including a Richer Sounds also at London Bridge Walk if my fading memory is correct?) always fairly near many great camera shops 'back then'.

It was always exciting back before you could order everything online, to see new camera bodies and lenses 'IRL' when they came out :) That and the VAST amount of used equipment that you could ogle behind glass displays!

Alex started off in the Croydon area with a small shop located on Windmill Bridge Road, expanded his business to a number of towns in the UK but eventually ended up with just the Croydon Superstore. He was at one time a member of Thornton Heath Camera Club as was myself. I knew he had a shop in the Victoria area; didn’t realise he was still managing it.

I visited Mr. Cad in the 80's when I returned to Croydon to see my father. Nice big showroom with a lot of interesting gear.

Dave Ellison said

I visited Mr. Cad in the 80's when I returned to Croydon to see my father. Nice big showroom with a lot of interesting gear.

I also remember Kennards and the amazing junk shop opposite.

I remember Mr Cad in Croydon; I think it would have been Alex who served me.

Got some quite useful things from them -- the amazing Rollei quick release plate, and a Minolta 50mm macro lens among them.

Andy McG said

I think this popped up on a previous thread.

I remember the Croydon HQ in the 80s and 90s, spending most of my disposable income in there on cameras, film and darkroom equipment.

Alex is now 87 and still works in the shop!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_qGsQkoZhU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I remember the Mr Cad shop in Victoria, just along from Grays of Westminster.  I think it is still there.

Anyone remember Wallace Heaton and their Blue book in Fleet street?

Dabhand16 said

Andy McG said

I think this popped up on a previous thread.

I remember the Croydon HQ in the 80s and 90s, spending most of my disposable income in there on cameras, film and darkroom equipment.

Alex is now 87 and still works in the shop!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_qGsQkoZhU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I remember the Mr Cad shop in Victoria, just along from Grays of Westminster.  I think it is still there.

Anyone remember Wallace Heaton and their Blue book in Fleet street?

I remember Wallace Heaton.  I worked in Fleet Street in the late 70s early 80s.  Between them and Dixons my lack lustre photography career was spawned.

GDSandy Photography said

I remember Wallace Heaton.  I worked in Fleet Street in the late 70s early 80s.  Between them and Dixons my lack lustre photography career was spawned.

I bought my first SLR there in 1964 or 65!  A Pentax SV.  Cost £99.19.9p.  Still got the Thrupenny bit change!  Still got the camera too along with its replacement Olympus OM-2SP bought in LCE in Strutton Ground around 1984.

I remember Mr CAD in Croydon. A treasure trove of worn out second-hand studio gear. It was definitely not the one by London Bridge station, I think that was Vic Oddens. 

There was a wharehouse in west London, EuroPhoto store. I bought a fair bit og gear there.

Alex Falk, still going strong!

I was a regular customer of Mr CAD, especially as the big Windmill Road store was only a 15 minute walk from home.  He had shops in Bromley, Strand and one in North London, can’t remember where now, as well as a small shop in the Whitgift Centre that was mainly hi-fi.  Visited a lot just to window shop and see if there were any ‘bargains’ there.

Went bankrupt in the mid-‘80s, downsized to just the Windmill Road store and restarted as Beginlaunch Ltd, but kept operating as Mr CAD.  Official distributor for a few budget brands too.  Don’t get to visit the Pimlico store very often, but it looks like a micro version of the Windmill Road one.

Long after I left Jessops, in the 2010s, I answered a job advert long before their relocation to Pimlico.  Alex interviewed me a couple of times, but because I was in my early 40s at the time, he was in a dilemma about taking me on, which eventually he didn’t.  He told me he was looking to find someone young enough to learn the business, who was experienced in film photography, and eventually hand it over to them, so he could finally retire.  Although I had the knowledge and experience in film, he told me he couldn’t risk it as I’d be up for retirement just as I’d be settled in.  He was really looking for a Charlie to take over the chocolate factory, all the young applicants only had knowledge about digital photography, but knew nothing about film.  I guess he still hasn’t found anyone yet.

I dont live in the UK  but in my home town our Local Camera shop is still going 1949 to present!
https://www.instagram.com/whelancameras.ie/  
My Grandfather, My Father and Myself were all were Loyal Customers. (I still am)
Bernard Whelan our local camera shop owner is still working today along with his Son and some great staff.

I first visited Mr Cad, in 1991 or maybe 1992. I was staying in Croydon with my then girlfriend, at her aunt's home for a couple of weeks in summer. We were teenagers, me 18, she would have been 17. 

I next visited Mr Cad, in Pimlico in 2014. I was looking for a metered prism for my Bronica GS1, Mr Cad listed two on the website. I was in London for a conference IIRC. Anyway, one of the prisms came home with me, it was on the expensive side but like the rest of my GS1 kit, looks like it was made last week. The other had seen some life. 

Here's the bit that threw me. The assistant asked if I had shopped at Mr Cad in the past, I said I had at the old shop many years ago. Alex Falk pipes in, told me what I'd bought ( a SMC Pentax wide angle lens and a set of 49mm Pentax colour filters ) and that I had a tall, slim attractive youg lady with henna red hair in tow.
He was correct on all counts.