Is Essex Camera Service our of business?

Call them. If they are the Essex in NJ, they have a website and contact info on it. As for your camera, contact the post office to see where it is and in the case of Essex's doors being closed, where can you retrieve it.
 
Website is still up but it is definitely out of business.

If you have good Google skills you can find this same answer on multiple websites and forums.
 
Call me a Doubting Thomas, I guess, but has Essex itself actually said anything? Has anyone sent them a question and gotten a response of "sorry, we are out of business"? I hear conflicting reports. Maybe I'm just hoping against hope -- they have been the true "go to" place that fixes anything.
 
There was another thread on this several weeks back and somebody said they moved their operations "upstairs." Their original shop was on the first floor and was wiped out by Sandy.

Mind you, I have no idea if this is true.

Jim B.
 
KoNickon said:
Call me a Doubting Thomas, I guess, but has Essex itself actually said anything? Has anyone sent them a question and gotten a response of "sorry, we are out of business"? I hear conflicting reports. Maybe I'm just hoping against hope -- they have been the true "go to" place that fixes anything.
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If mail is not deliverable and they don't answer emails or the phone I'd certainly think twice about sending them anything.
 
They had an excelent reputation with Popular Photography. Unfortunately, I visited them a couple of times, years ago, but never warmed up to the ice cream parlor style "take out window".
 
I heard last week from someone in the camera biz that used to regularly visit Essex with repairs that it is gone. Maybe they are trying to salvage some gear for future operations but it sounds like they were flooded completely and were at just about 100% loss.
Hopefully, in time they'll be back but it's going to be a long while I think.

Phil Forrest
 
Mackinaw said:
There was another thread on this several weeks back and somebody said they moved their operations "upstairs."
Click to expand...
That was the original plan I understand. More recently I read (maybe APUG?) that their spare parts were either ruined by or washed away by Sandy and that their ground floor premises were just devastated. Mr. Kim was hopeful but that hope must be flickering if not already out.

I would think the parts situation would cripple any business like that, never mind the work benches and mechanical equipment. So sad, they did a brilliant job with my Rolleiflex last year and replaced three or four parts in it. But however bad we feel, think of Mr. Kim losing everything and his staff losing their livelihoods. Much worse. :(
 
They repaired many items for me over the years, from rangefinders to medium format. Always good service at a fair price. I just sent them a camera and few lenses last week. They still had a webpage; I figured all was good. The packaged was returned today with a note, "Company Out Of Business."
 
Essex Camera Service...

Essex Camera Service...

I was doing some photo record box shredding and I found my Essex file. On impulse I called the phone number, and that familiar recording " the number you have dialed is disconnected....." came on.
I think Shi Kim and his crew are probably out of business at this point. Apparently they had no back-up database off-site to alert customers by email on their situation and status.
The longer they remain incommunicado with their customers, the greater the chance their customer base will find a new repair shop. It's a shame as their prices were reasonable.
 
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