Dixon was started by Michael Mindel and Charles Kalms as a photographic studio in the High Street in Southend. The company was registered as Dixons Studios Limited with a share capital of £100. The company’s name was chosen casually by flipping through the telephone directory, and since it was a short name, it would fit above the shop front, hence the name Dixons. During the 1940s seven other studios were opened around London, but unfortunately, by the end of the Second World War, there was only one studio left in Edgware. In 1950, Dixons started selling cameras, and a new head office and buying center was opened in Edgware in 1957 to accommodate the huge 60,000 mail order customers, and to provide administrative back-up for its stores.
