kshapero
South Florida Man
Just passed by the Ritz Camera store near my home. A brand new building completed only last July. Big sign out front " Store Closing". Boy that was quick! Whats it all mean? I rarely shopped there anyway.
andrewteee
Established
Local Ritz closed near me as well. But they were a sorry store. What's more troubling is the total available storefront space. Tons of it in my town. Seems like the economy as well as the reshaping of our shopping habits have changed the local store landscape. Lots of restaurants, floral shops, spas, hair salons, but not much else. But thankfully we still have a decent local bookshop just down the street.
Sam N
Well-known
It means that Ritz sucks. Good riddance. There are plenty of better brick-and-mortar places for photo-related things. Electronics stores for digital cameras, the pharmacy for cheap prints, camera stores for everything else. It's unfortunate that a lot of places don't have quality camera stores or pro labs, but Ritz wasn't much of either of those.
back alley
IMAGES
I rarely shopped there anyway.
that pretty much sums it up...
that pretty much sums it up...
nikon_sam
Shooter of Film...
Both local Ritz stores are closing in our town...I used them for developing and scanning...I got to be great friends with one of the managers...she knew what I needed and wanted and would make sure I was happy with their work...
I don't know yet where she'll end up but I know I'll miss her and the fun conversations we had...
I don't know yet where she'll end up but I know I'll miss her and the fun conversations we had...
Tuolumne
Veteran
Didn't they file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy?
/T
/T
ray*j*gun
Veteran
Yes under reorganization.
They aren't all bad stores.....my local one was a Camera Shop and is still good for a developing c41 and scanning if I have too much to scan myself. I would miss mine if it closed!
They aren't all bad stores.....my local one was a Camera Shop and is still good for a developing c41 and scanning if I have too much to scan myself. I would miss mine if it closed!
andrewteee
Established
Ritz bought a lot of local camera stores that were sometime still run as good local camera stores. I bought something at a camera store in Carmel with a large selection and helpful staff only to learn later they were a Ritz store. But you could not tell it from the experience.
Darkhorse
pointed and shot
I was ignored at every Ritz I went into.
I'm going to really miss the Ritz that is closing by me. Shopped there for over 20 years. It was there clearance center, so they always had some "new Old Stock", some found in warehouse going back years.
They employed several college age "kids" that had real interest in photography. I set a couple of them up with Film cameras. Some bought older cameras on Ebay and asked if i could take a look at it for them.
A second Ritz opened within 1/2 mile of it. So both stores were competing with each other, and the "bottom line" was reduced. So the Chapter 11 weenies looked at the bottom line only, decided to close both. One of them could have done well.
They employed several college age "kids" that had real interest in photography. I set a couple of them up with Film cameras. Some bought older cameras on Ebay and asked if i could take a look at it for them.
A second Ritz opened within 1/2 mile of it. So both stores were competing with each other, and the "bottom line" was reduced. So the Chapter 11 weenies looked at the bottom line only, decided to close both. One of them could have done well.
amateriat
We're all light!
When I was still a Manhattanite, my local camera shop on the Upper West Side was (appropriately enough) Westside Camera, which was bought out by Wolf, which itself was bought out by Ritz, but which was still under original management (at least it was up until a handful of years ago, when I last checked). Wonder what'll happen there now?
- Barrett
- Barrett
bean_counter
Well-known
The local "Lion Camera" became a "Wolf Camera" at some point, then was bought out by Ritz and became one of their 'superstores'. A fairly large stand-alone near the mall; used to have a lot of selection - just a few years ago Hassy, Rollie, and Leica were in stock. They had a killer deal on a 35 'cron v4 when they closed out the pro stock, but I was broke (as usual - heck, I didn't even have an M...).
Not sure if they are remining open; I have started driving the extra 20 minutes to a smallish Calumet; at least I can get basic B&W chems there. 50 minute drive for just the basics - and I live at the edge of the Chicago 'burbs. :bang: It's hard to support the local guys when they're not very local!
Not sure if they are remining open; I have started driving the extra 20 minutes to a smallish Calumet; at least I can get basic B&W chems there. 50 minute drive for just the basics - and I live at the edge of the Chicago 'burbs. :bang: It's hard to support the local guys when they're not very local!