EUROPE'S FINEST PHOTO STORE

That is what Lisbeth Bjerknes, Marketing Director at Cewe Scandinavia, says as she, together with her colleagues, welcomes the trade magazine Elektronikkbransjen to the newly refurbished and expanded Cewe Japan Photo Byporten in central Oslo.

– This is Europe’s finest photo shop. We combine the best of the photography world: express and analogue developing, Instax experiences and our Cewe Photo Centre, says Stephan Stein, the company’s top executive in Scandinavia.

The shop at Byporten, next door to Oslo Central Station, has been expanded and rebuilt. The aim has been to bring the entire photo journey under one roof: from express and analogue developing to photo books, large format and a wide camera range, while customers can also order all types of products online and collect them in store.

– Cewe Photo Book is particularly important to customers and accounts for 50 per cent of revenue for Cewe products. Here at Byporten, we are presenting Scandinavia’s best photo book display, Stein tells the trade magazine Elektronikkbransjen.

Erik Skjerve, Director of Retail, describes the premises as a combination of shop and showroom.

– We have 400 square metres across two floors, and a 24-metre façade facing a very busy area, says Skjerve.

– The entrance from Byporten is passed by around 50,000 people every day. The shop is both a complete retail outlet and a clear brand ambassador for everything we offer, says Skjerve.

We Love Photos

Marketing director Bjerknes highlights the concept and expression.

– When we show who we are, and what Cewe stands for and delivers, we gain new customers. The store represents the brand, from the full product portfolio to the experience, where you can print pictures and make photo gifts on site, says Bjerknes.

– We are now clearly profiling ourselves with «We Love Photos» to make it easy to explain to customers what we offer. In Norway, Cewe Japan Photo is strong in cameras and photography, and here at Byporten the full range is covered. The chain’s stores without a camera range are being profiled as pure Cewe stores, as part of a planned brand transition, says Bjerknes.

The offering at Byporten is designed both for immediate production and more advanced jobs.

– We make most things on site if the customer wants it. We have 20 Cewe photo stations where you can easily connect a mobile phone, memory card or camera, and get pictures in a few minutes, says Skjerve.

– On the ground floor we have 14 stations that print up to 20×30 centimetres, in a range of formats and designs. In the basement level we offer large format, canvas, gift products and calendars while the customer waits. In addition, we offer analogue developing, also as an express service, says Skjerve.

High-quality scanner

Scandinavia chief Stein is particularly proud of the Noritsu scanner costing 20,000 euros.

– This is the very Rolls‑Royce of scanning analogue film, and they are only available second-hand. As far as we know, there are only six of these top models in Norway, and we have four of them. In Oslo, as far as we know, this is the only high-quality scanner, Stein tells the trade magazine Elektronikkbransjen.

The shop is aimed at the full range of customers, including businesses.

– The customers are private individuals, semi-professional and professional photographers. We have many who have stayed with us all the way from the analogue days, says Stein.

– In addition, we have business customers who want to produce hundreds of photo books or thousands of calendars. Here we handle both industry customers and businesses outside the photography sector, says Stein.

Skjerve points out that the shop is designed to cover the entire spectrum, rather than being a niche shop.

– There are many exciting retailers in Oslo, but we are the only complete offering. You will find specialists in individual parts, whereas we cover everything, from the curious first-time user to the professional, with knowledgeable staff in all specialist areas, says Skjerve.

Scalable concept

– Is it relevant to open shops of this type in other cities?

– Ideally, we would like to have a flagship store like this in every major city as part of the brand strategy, says Bjerknes.

– This is the first and the largest. It will be challenging to match, but we have created a new concept that can be scaled, either as a full package or with selected elements in premises smaller than 400 square metres, says Bjerknes.

Stein believes the Norwegian flagship has already created ripple effects.

– This is, by a good margin, Europe’s largest photo processing shop, says Stein.

– The entire Cewe group comes here to have a look, as do our competitors. We would not be surprised if elements from the concept appear in other major European cities, says Stein.

A large part of the volume is managed between online and store.

– Express processing accounts for half of the photo processing revenue here. At the same time, many order online, for example Cewe Photobook, and collect in store. This has several advantages for the customer. For example, they should always be asked whether they want to see the product here in the shop, and whether they are satisfied with the result. If not, it should be resolved on the spot, says Stein.

Instax photo kiosk

He shows us the compact shelving units behind the till on the upper floor, where you turn a wheel to gain access to what is stored on the shelves.

– This is the first of our stores to have this, and it is absolutely necessary since we have so many photo products to be collected here, says Stein.

Skjerve says Cewe Japan Photo is Norway’s largest retailer of photographic equipment and cameras from Fujifilm.

– We collaborate on new in-store areas. Among other things, we have jointly developed experiences such as a playful Instax table and an Instax photo kiosk. Here, customers can take a selfie that is printed on an Instax printer, and they get to take the picture with them as a souvenir from the store, says Skjerve.

He says a clear trend recently has been increased demand at both the lower and upper ends of the compact camera market.

– It is fun that it is back and growing, says Skjerve.

– The growth is clear in the entry-level segment. Compact cameras are exploding, especially among young people. At the same time, we see demand for quality in the NOK 10,000-20,000 range, while others want simple cameras in the NOK 1,500-2,000 class, says Skjerve.

Competing on price

The store also benefits from the logistics in the Oslo area.

– We have a large central warehouse just a few kilometres away, by the head office at Bjørndal, says Stein.

– If the customer needs equipment that is not on display, we can get it in 30 minutes. We have goods worth around NOK 60 million in stock, says Stein.

– How important are camera sales for you?

– They are important, even though the margins are lower than on image products. Cameras and photographic equipment account for almost 50 per cent of our turnover in Norway, but we do not sell cameras to get rich from them. We can compete on price because we make our living from what the customer creates afterwards. Cameras are a marketing tool for our image products, says Stein.

The shop in Byporten remained fully operational throughout the refurbishment.

– We did not close for a single day. Customers could print pictures and collect every day throughout the entire construction period, says Skjerve, praising the employees’ ability to adapt during the building period.

Venke Falstad has been store manager since 2022. She says more stations and more space have provided a better rhythm throughout the day.

– Since we got more Cewe photo stations, we have seen a clear increase in express prints, says Falstad.

– There is better space to sit and place orders, and we distribute traffic across two floors. There are still peaks in the middle of the day, but queue management is far better. After the refurbishment and expansion, more people are also visiting our premises on the lower ground floor, says Falstad.