How can smaller photo stores survive?

We are very fortunate that here in North Carolina we have one of the best camera stores that still deals in analog. Peace Camera in Raleigh is truly a photographers dream come true. They have displays of old cameras, that it could easily be called a museum. Every time I go for a visit the store is visited by several customers and the staff is well knowleged.

http://www.peacecamera.com/
 
I'm with Shadowfox, change the equation, find a niche, learn who your market is and move them to you. There is only one old line store near me unless you count Wolf/Ritz/WhatEver. I will buy stuff there, but I have not purchased anything big in about 14 years. Their prices are just too much higher. I try to support local when ever I can, but when it creeps up to 20% extra I have to say no and go online. This is one of the things I miss about not living in NYC any more.

Soccer Moms, Football Dads, BoyScouts, sell what the chain stores do not, GLASS. Teach classes, run contests, do not compete on the price of a body. Flashes, small mono-pods, cases that are unique, be special. Use EvilBay to move the stuff that does not move fast (Rich out on Long Island does this). Be what the big box stores can not be, smart, special and focused! Scrapbooking parties hosted at your store after hours for free!!

You need to move photography from a commodity to a passion, to a hobby, to be fun again and exciting.

B2 (;->
 
This issue, IMO, isn't limited to camera shops.

Some of my favorite music shops in NYC were plowed under by the Towers, HMVs and Virgins when they came to town. (Of the three, only Virgin remains, and I openly question for how long.) Same with bookstores, although here in Park Slope, most of the indies are weathering the local B & N relatively well (althouugh one used bookstore might be closing up shop).

Thing is, I have't really had a "regular" small photo store I liked dealing with in a while. Camera Traders was the last one I dealt with on a regular basis (bought my entire Hexar RF system through that store, all new, among other big-ticket items over an eight-year period). Given the fact that they were a mere one block away from Adorama, I was amazed they held on as long as they did, although having a strong online presence probably helped (they're still online, after closing the brick n' mortar part). Yes, there's Photo Village (thankfully), and I'll likely check them out in-person from time to time, as well as Photo Habitiat, which is in essence a sort of spin-off of the old Ken Hansen, including several Hansen veterans. These shops seem to do well, but they specialize in catering to the hardcore pro/serious amateur market, do a solid used-equipment trade, and market the daylights out of themselves online. If you don't have a reasonably polished Web presence, you're as good as dead in the water, even in NYC. (I should say especially in NYC...have you checked commercial rents here lately?)


- Barrett
 
The Air Is Rare Over There...

The Air Is Rare Over There...

Well, I temporarily went insane and had a change of heart. I went into a local camera store down the road that I haven't visited in years, and there are plenty here in NNJ. I won't give the name because I wish them well and don't want to badmouth them. Anyway, I walked in and the salesperson was on the phone having a personal conversation while talking quite loud. Geez, is it really necessary that he broadcast his dirty laundry. I walked back and forth looking at the stock for the greater part of ten minutes trying to decide if there was anything I needed. Yes, I did need something. I bag of fixer, however it was nowhere in sight. Plenty of paper and film developer though. Finally, I got a little anxious and stared into his eyes as I typically do when I get pissed off. He said "can I help you" ? I said "I'm in no rush, finish your phone call, put your priorities in order" while giving him heavy eye contact. He hungup and proceeded with a "can I help you". Sure, I said, "I need fixer". He said "we don't get much call for that". I said "gee, you sure have a lot of developer and you can't develop without fixer". A stupid statement I admit but that's what I said. He said "I'll call the other store and see if they have it". He called and asked for developer. I said " it's fixer I need". He said "are you sure ?". I said "yeah, I want powered fixer". He said "OK". Then proceeded to take my name, rank and serial number which I graciously gave him as he said "we will call you when it comes in". Two weeks later and no phone call.

What a fiasco !

So, I should support my local camera store ?

I Gotta Get Outta Here... And Relocate To Vancouver... Where The Air Is Rare.

Best,
George
 
Most smaller shops in my town (Zurich) belong to a group or chain of shops. The few remaining independent ones have either a top place in the center and tourist zone, or are specialized in a niche. One shop does camera repairs (all kinds except rangefinders 🙁 ), another one is spezialized for professionals, sells and rents everything they need (gear, lights, reflectors, computers, software), and a few ones in the suburbs have owners who changed nothing and will retire soon. If you're lucky they may have a new old stock Nikkormat for you. Personally I don't support them much - less than the local flea markets. I buy online mostly.
Didier
 
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One small local photo store has scrapped the minilab and stopped selling cameras except for one single model (Nikon Coolpix-L12). Instead they've started selling gifts, watches, jewelry, and kitch. There's now a digital print kiosk there, and still one shelf with a very narrow selection of film. To be fair though, they do have a wide range of photo frames..
 
Well I work at a small camera store. We've been opened for 9 years now. I started working there 8 years ago. It doesn't make a living for me, but I enjoy it. It does support the owner and his family though.

Will the store be there forever? I hope so. We are considering opening a second store actually, but it is a big and risky decision. We are lucky to be located near two college's that have photo departments and a high school with a photo department. One of the colleges and the high school are with in walking distance of us.

We also have a Samy's, Calumet, and Pro Photo with in a half hour drive of us and if you want to go 45 minutes or so you can hit all the big stores in Los Angeles. Costco is about a mile down the street and across from that is Circuit City. Best Buy is about a mile the other direction.

We manage to keep our prices competitive with the brick and mortar stores around. We can't always do much against the big mail order and internet stores but no one can. It is true, most of those stores sell products for cheaper than we can buy them from the manufacturer. A sneaky little practice the big camera companies like to do since technically it is illegal to sell to one store for a differnet price than another 😉

We try to make up for it with service. We actually know what we are talking about and know photography unlike the high school senior working at Best Buy. You'd be surprised how many customers Ritz camera sends to us! We buy them a box of chocolate every Christmas as a thank you! We don't get a lot of the big pro photographers. There isn't much we can teach them about it and they know full well what B&H is.

Someone said it right. It isn't the cameras and lenses that we make our money on, it is the extra stuff like memory cards, batteries, repairs, film, etc. The markup on cameras is a joke, but it's what we have to do to compete with the big stores. We've even been known to sell a camera or two at cost just to make someone happy and keep them coming back. Hopefully we will be able to sell them a memory card or two later or with any luck they will recommend us to their friends. We also sell used equipment which very few other places do in Orange County. That helps somewhat.

And now as I am apparently a camera whore, I have one thing to say to Mr. Bonnano who seems to like to lump people all into big group.

You said: "I need fixer". He said "we don't get much call for that". I said "gee, you sure have a lot of developer and you can't develop without fixer". A stupid statement I admit but that's what I said.

You are right. It is a stupid statement. If you'd given me that smart ass response I'd have explained politely that you don't have a clue what you are talking about. See We sell very little fixer as well compared to our developer. Want to know why? It's very simple. The schools all provide the fixer and only require developer of their students.

I'm not going to condone the conduct of the person working at the store. I don't answer my phone when customers are in the shop and I think it very rude to do so, but judging by the comments I've read in this thread from you, I don't think I'd enjoy dealing with you very much either. You sound very rude. It's all about perception isn't it. If you go into the store with a chip on your shoulder, then what incentive does someone have to help you.

i'd rather lose a customer than deal with a rude one.
 
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