Brick & Mortar Photo Shops

[stevierose]

We actually have a new camera store here in Ann Arbor, opened by a young fellow, that appears to be thriving. I wrote an article about it here:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2015/05/camera-stores-and-unicorns.html

Steve Rosenblum

 

[Emile de Leon]

Maybe there is some hope yet!

 

[David Hughes]

Worse can happen, I went to my local lab and it had gone. Now looks like a lumber room. Spoke to the people next door and they said the staff got a phone call one day and were told to go and that was that...

It's not the only one that's vanished almost overnight.

Regards, David

 

[Ronald M]

When people go local for advice and /or buy mail order, the local closes. Stupid photogs did it to ourselves.

Amazon, Zappos, and others are putting everyone out of business. I wear 11A shoes and have not been able to buy locally for 40 years. PITA.

We are self destructing.

 

[Ronald M]

We actually have a new camera store here in Ann Arbor, opened by a young fellow, that appears to be thriving. I wrote an article about it here:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2015/05/camera-stores-and-unicorns.html

Steve Rosenblum

We have two in Chicago area, Central near Roosevelt College and PJ`s near DuPage Junior College. Both have photo classes.

 

[css9450]

We have two in Chicago area, Central near Roosevelt College and PJ`s near DuPage Junior College.

PJ's has classes? I should look into them.... Always room for more learning!

 

[MISH]

When in Chicago lets not forget Tamarkin. No better place for me to see and talk Leica (and buy)

 

[Dralowid]

In the days when I used to come over to New York I always tried to visit Olden on the corner of Broadway and 32nd...is it still there?

 

[JoeLopez]

We actually have a new camera store here in Ann Arbor, opened by a young fellow, that appears to be thriving. I wrote an article about it here:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2015/05/camera-stores-and-unicorns.html

Steve Rosenblum

I've heard of Cameramall and will certainly pay a visit next time I'm out that way

 

[JoeLopez]

When people go local for advice and /or buy mail order, the local closes. Stupid photogs did it to ourselves.

Amazon, Zappos, and others are putting everyone out of business. I wear 11A shoes and have not been able to buy locally for 40 years. PITA.

We are self destructing.

The online stores didn't do it, the shoppers did it.

 

[MISH]

Central Cameras film counter

 

[mich rassena]

I visit my local brick and mortar just often enough to be reminded why I don't go more often. They never try to sell me anything, which normally I'd say is a good thing, except in this case, they actively discourage me from buying anything by being cold and unfriendly, not having anything I want in stock, like film or developer. I waited most of a summer one year for them to get paper, stopped by three or four times, and nothing.

Why should a customer tolerate that? Even a simple, I'll order it for you and it'll be here next week would have been fine. I would have prepaid. But if they can't be bothered, neither can I. I can go to any number of reputable websites punch in my card number and have whatever I want waiting at my doorstep in less than a week. Brick and mortar has to at least try to compete. I'd gladly pay a slight premium just to shop locally, but they have to meet me halfway.

 

[Emile de Leon]

Why should a customer tolerate that? Even a simple, I'll order it for you and it'll be here next week would have been fine.

Stores have to make wholesale minimums...orderwise that is..and profit on a single item like paper is well...not going pay for much of anything..esp when stuff like that will just sit...so..the customer takes it personally ..which they shouldn't..as they have other options..

 

[mich rassena]

Stores have to make wholesale minimums...orderwise that is..and profit on a single item like paper is well...not going pay for much of anything..esp when stuff like that will just sit...so..the customer takes it personally ..which they shouldn't..as they have other options..

So what you're saying is it doesn't make business sense for a photography store to sell photography-related things, like paper. Perhaps we have our answer as to why so many of them are going out of business -- not enough volume to justify having a stock, not enough stock to sell to customers when they do appear.

The thing is, this place sometimes has film, developer, fixer, and paper. And sometimes they do not. So I'm not just barking up the wrong tree, they really do stock these items, just not all the time.

I'm willing to pay for convenience. Often up to the cost online + shipping for a single item just to get it now.

From my perspective, whatever small profit they make on the paper is immaterial. They've also lost all of the future profits on whatever paper I would have bought, fixer, developer, and film. And if I had more money to spend, digital cameras and lenses too.

So good for them if they can afford to blow off a willing customer. They must be doing quite well for themselves.

 

[ptpdprinter]

...not enough volume to justify having a stock, not enough stock to sell to customers when they do appear.

This seems to be the dilemma. I stopped going to my local store over the past couple of years because they didn't have stuff in stock. DDX developer out of stock. They said it was on order; went back two weeks later and it still wasn't in. Ordered it online for the same price (less tax) and it was delivered to my door two days later. Wanted to buy an Fuji XT2 but they didn't have them in stock. Left them my name and number and ask them to call me when they came in. Never heard from them. Ordered it online a month later for the same price (less tax) and it was delivered to my door two days later. Price really isn't the issue; it's availability. And they wonder why local photographers don't support them, and blame their problems on the internet. Honestly, I don't know how they stay in business.

 

[cz23]

The online stores didn't do it, the shoppers did it.

You really can't blame shoppers either. It's just technological and cultural evolution. Things change. New things arise and supplant old things. We probably witness more of it now because the pace of technology has accelerated so much in our lifetimes. But the new pushing aside the old has always been the way of history. And I'm sure every generation has bemoaned whatever was superseded in their day.

John

 

[css9450]

The thing is, this place sometimes has film, developer, fixer, and paper. And sometimes they do not. So I'm not just barking up the wrong tree, they really do stock these items, just not all the time.

My shop is like that, exactly. I suspect they order minimums of everything, because it moves so slowly. So some things sell out while others collect dust on the shelf for years.

 

[mich rassena]

This seems to be the dilemma. I stopped going to my local store over the past couple of years because they didn't have stuff in stock. DDX developer out of stock. They said it was on order; went back two weeks later and it still wasn't in. Ordered it online for the same price (less tax) and it was delivered to my door two days later. Wanted to buy an Fuji XT2 but they didn't have them in stock. Left them my name and number and ask them to call me when they came in. Never heard from them. Ordered it online a month later for the same price (less tax) and it was delivered to my door two days later. Price really isn't the issue; it's availability. And they wonder why local photographers don't support them, and blame their problems on the internet. Honestly, I don't know how they stay in business.

All of what you wrote sounds familiar. I don't know what I really expect of them, except a little hustle. I stopped by a battery store at lunch today and literally heard someone say "We don't have that battery for your laptop, but I can order it for you and it will be here in two days".

I'm not sure the customer went for it, but for the sake of discussion, it doesn't matter. The staff made an effort to satisfy the customer. Since I'm more than capable of ordering anything I need for myself from the Internet, why would I ever step into a store? And yet I do. Brick and mortar stores need to figure out their strengths. Full service and knowledgeable staff are part of the picture. The days are gone where you could put out your shingle and expect the world to come calling. The competition isn't across town, it's across the country, if not global.

In the case of the battery store, I needed a battery for a camera. I knew they were competitive in cost with other local options. And I'm not going to wait a month to get a really cheap one from China. And you know, it didn't occur to me to go to the camera store for a camera battery until writing this comment. I could have. Would they have had it? Who knows. There's a little bit of money they lost again.

 

[MISH]

Central Camera keeps Rodinal in stock

 

[css9450]

Central Camera keeps Rodinal in stock

That's good to know, for my next bottle (might be years away yet ha ha!).

The bottle I have came from Freestyle and it shipped via rail from California. I would gladly buy it here even if it costs more.