Calumet Photographic: gone

My in-store experiences had not been particularly pleasant, and the lack of in-store inventory made them irrelevant the past few years. Internet shipping charges were high- recently, I was going to buy a dvd they had on sale for $5, and shipping was $10 for it. So I looked at another $5 dvd, thinking I might get both shipped for the $10, but no, $20 for shipping (2x$10) and $10 for the two dvds. Absurd.
 
Economic Darwinism. Re-invent or die. Buying under-performing stores from Penn Camera adds hemlock to the mix.

Not sure what the evolution for camera stores is. Here in FL Marshall's keeps going, but there is a large supply of older people who need the friendly support they give. They keep on ticking and I get some gear every now and then, since they give a warranty and you can look it over real well.

They offer classes, but not sure how that fits in. Expansion in brick and motor is not in the future for photo stores I think. B&H is the 800lb gorilla.
 
I used to go to the NYC store often for film, because they were closer to my work than B&H and not as annoying as Adorama. I did figure it was a bad sign that the store was almost always deserted.

B&H and Adorama feel pretty big and faceless to me, so I'd rather buy my film from Freestyle from now on.
 
jsrockit said:
And most stores don't care about anything but a sale.
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I never shopped at Calumet for that reason alone. Anything they had that I wanted I could see and buy somewhere else for less. I have been a B&H, Adorama and KEH customer for years. Now that I'm working in NJ I have been shopping at Unique cuz they're right down the road. But if I wasn't here I'd be shopping at the usual haunts.

Where I live all the stores have dropped film, which is all I do, and darkroom completely, forcing me online. Those that cater to my needs at prices I'm willing to pay will get my business. Those that don't, won't. I feel no obligation to shop at Joe's, but, if a store will sell me what I want for less than an online retailer plus shipping, I'll buy. I have to say that every time I've bought chemistry at Unique, they brought the wrong stuff out of the warehouse. Could be the guy at the counter has a lousy GUI, but makes you wonder.
 
Phil_F_NM said:
It appears they just shut their doors. I called all three extensions at our Calumet here in Philly and they aren't answering. Sad times.

Phil Forrest
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Phil

I guess the New York store is gone as well, I'll have to check. 🙁 I purchased a great
lighting system from Tom who worked their, great bunch of guy's.


Range
 
My favorite photo store is Fotocare -- it's a professional store and the people are the most knowledgeable. Especially the owner Jeff Hirsch http://www.fotocare.com They also have a rental store next store, and they host Leif, Phase One, and many other educational events. Truly a must see if you're in NYC. And they're on the same street as the Calumet store. Many celeb photogs go there, I once stood shoulder to shoulder with Lou Reed -- he had a Fuji S3 at the time. I didn't say anything to him because it was sacred ground 🙂
 
jordanatkins said:
Well, that's great... if you can afford it.
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The problem with this logic is that we, the consumers can't simply be just that because with the internet, convenience and the lowest prices out there it slowly causes us to exist simply to consume blindly.

If we are to abandon the personal touch of the local stores then the experience of photography just isn't as rich. We don't get the stories of how Robert Frank walked in with a Leica IIIc that had actual soil on it and looked wrecked but he needed it CLAd ASAP.

Without talking to someone in a brick& mortar store, I would have not learned about bromide drag as long ago as I did.

I'm afraid that without the local photo stores, all of these little tales will be lost. Photography could become more of an impersonal craft as we can look up everything on the internet. As good as RFF and other forums may be, they don't hold up to actually talking with folks in person about photography or whatever. I belong to a forum for Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts and they are great but it is so much better to have another person around to bounce ideas off of when I'm scratching my head while looking at an engine that won't start.

As much as photography keeps us apart from what we see as observers and less so participants, the internet can have that power to diminish the richness of the craft simply by offering us lower prices.

If you can't afford the personal touch of a brick and mortar store, maybe save up until you can. (Yes, I know there are folks out there who simply can't get to a locally owned photo store, you're the exception.) Without this kind of sacrifice, we're all just becoming consumer slaves to outsourcing. I'm sorry to say so. I'm not being judgmental as much as thinking about the folks who have worked in those places for a long time to make our craft possible. I've worked for three independent photo shops and one of them closed down in 2009. The few of us left over had to find other work. One of my coworkers was 59 and had worked for that business for just shy of thirty years but lost his retirement due to their bad investments. I think he's passed away since then. This is all just a commentary on how we are letting our pocketbooks rule our lives instead of taking the time to find a way to enrich them even at a higher price.

Phil Forrest
 
Words that should be hand carved in oak.
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Those of us who watched the BBC's "Tomorrow's World" back in the 'sixties and 'seventies, may remember the predictions that we would all be working 20 hour weeks by now.

They got that partly right, I suppose. 🙄
 
Sejanus.Aelianus said:
Those of us who watched the BBC's "Tomorrow's World" back in the 'sixties and 'seventies, may remember the predictions that we would all be working 20 hour weeks by now.

They got that partly right, I suppose. 🙄
Click to expand...
This is an intriguing one.

In the 60s a working life was basically imagined as 40 hours a week for 50 years from 15 to 65. Now, many people don't start until they're in their 20s and are on the scrap-heap 30 years later: 30 years instead of 50. So hours worked have dropped by 40% after all.

The late starts are thanks to (often worthless) education: how many people who study photography become photographers, and how many work behind counters in camera shops? Do they need a degree for either?

Cheers,

R.
 
Jim-st said:
This from Wikipedia:

"In 1980, the company transitioned from being a large format proprietary product vendor to being a full-line photographic product supplier.[4] In 1983, the company left the view camera manufacturing business and outsourced production to the Netherlands.[5] In 1989, they made a notable improvement on Polaroid instant film technology.[6] In 1992, the company leased 85,000 square feet (7,900 m2) of office space in Bensenville, Illinois, and relocated its corporate headquarters.[7] The current headquarters are on West Bliss Street in Chicago.[8]
In the 1990s, the company acquired the United Kingdom photo retail chain Keith, Johnson and Pelling and as recently as early 2009, the company had 20 locations in Europe.[9] In 2007 the retail location in Bensenville was moved next to the Oakbrook Center shopping mall in Oak Brook, Illinois."

Capital concentrates. We should too
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Dear Jim,

Thanks for that. I was reasonably sure, too, that Frank had got it exactly backwards: that there were no "cutthroat" Europeans doing down the kind, friendly, public-spirited Americans.

But it looks like KJP has survived and will presumably hasten to dissociate itself from the now-toxic Calumet brand.

Cheers,

R.
 
A friend and I both of the film persuasion made many lunchtime trips to the Bensenville, IL shop from 2002 to 2006. Service, staff, and stuff were fine.

Roger, you left off "brave".
 
Sparrow said:
... miners, shipbuilders and steelworkers do way less than twenty hours now
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... and designers. 😱(

I once had a a thriving small business specialising in academic publishing but design and typesetting - and even copy-editing - is now outsourced to Asia.

The quality of Asian suppliers can be exceptional today, so they're just as good as us, but way cheaper - and with the internet, communication and delivery are no barrier.
 
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