Ted's talking tough about the year ahead

Special Feature: The Annual

Richard Robertson, managing director of Ted's Cameras, says rising interest rates will dampen consumer spending in 2010.

PIN editor Barrie Parsons: How did Ted's perform in 2009 compared to the previous year?

The group's performance compared to last year 2007/2008 was extremely good, both in sales and profits before interest and tax.

What main factors do you attribute to the company's performance?

Stronger management over our costs meant that the extra sales margin derived on the first and second line of the P&L dropped to the bottom.

We work very diligently on stock levels and staff to sales ratios. The bonus that the government gave in the form of the $900 payment to people certainly did give us a boost towards last Christmas and this has continued right up until the last two months. Since the announcement of the first interest rate rise there has been a definite decline in customer traffic flow and sales throughout all states. This has been reflected in other businesses not allied to the camera business so the downturn in general retailing has certainly gone across-the-board and with more interest rate rises to come after the recent one quarter of a per cent rise, it looks like much leaner times in 2009/2010.

What impact is the strong Australian dollar having on prices of imported stock?

The impact is not as strong as it should be and prices have not come down anywhere near the change in the dollar. There seems to be a lag in dropping the price but not the same sort of lag in putting it up.

There is a lot profiteering going on with suppliers and not only in our industry. The other input that is having a big effect is grey marketing and the online traders who are sourcing their product from overseas. With our government not interested in the impact that this is having it will leave very little room for genuine retailers.

What is the group?s business outlook for Christmas 2009 and the year ahead?

Hopefully, Christmas will be a joyous season for all, retailers and wholesalers and customers.

The 2010 calendar year looks very tough.

Which imaging product categories do you think will perform best in 2010?

We had high hopes that video would be a star this year but it didn't happen. We thought that DSLR would continue to show double-figure growth but it didn't happen. We hoped that compact digital cameras would slow their decline and that hasn't happened. We're confidently hoping that our investment in HP photo publishing equipment will give us the edge that we will need next year

What products were the among the best sellers at Ted's in 2009?

Compact digital camera: Ixus (most models).

DSLR camera: Anything branded Canon

Photo frame: Anything under $150.

Camera bag or case: Lowepro.

Camera accessory: Any battery that fits a digital camera

Photo gift: Velbon tripods

Which new product (in any category) do you consider to be the most successful in 2009?

HP photo books and calendars

Best supplier in 2009 in terms of service and marketing support?

Too many to single out but not any particular order - Nikon and Canon.

Worst thing that can happen to specialist photo retailers in 2010?

Have a JB Hi-Fi store open in your town.