Where Have All the Camera Stores Gone?

The latest news to come down the photography and retail pikes is that Ritz Camera Centers, Inc which consists of Ritz Camera, Wolf Camera, Inkley’s, Kits Camera, Dean’s Photo, Cameras West, and Camera World may close their doors forever in as little as two weeks.

What happened? This past February the privately owned company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Half of the camera shops were picked up by a liquidation company while Boater’s World, a marine specialty shop (which was strangely housed under the same roof) was completely sold off.

How did it get this bad? Some blame the recession while others blame the new digital age. If you were to ask former sales associates, they would tell you there’s a long list of reasons including a large drop in photo finishing, a huge variety of merchandise the company bought that didn’t fit in with a photography store and therefore didn’t sell, a spike in Internet sales including RitzCamera.com, and yes, the recession.

Why does the potential closing of the remaining 400 stores matter? The chain, owned by David Ritz was previously run by his father Edward and his uncle. At one point there were nearly 1,000 stores nationwide including Hawai’i. These shops prided themselves on quality prints completed in an average of one hour. Multi-million dollar lab equipment was constantly maintained and inspected. The lab and sales associates were often photographers themselves or photography students and enthusiasts who enjoyed sharing their knowledge and passion with customers. Those are qualities you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else except pro shops and privately owned mini-labs and camera stores.

The Washington Post reports that on July 7, 2009, Ritz Camera Centers,Inc filed court papers asking for an auction of the remaining stores. A hearing on the bidding is scheduled for July 10th in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. The auction is set to take place on July 20th and they seek to finalize the transaction on or before July 23rd.

How this chain of events affects you, the customer.

If the remaining stores are sold to liquidators as the previously disposed stores were run by Great American Group, all new sales are final. Previously purchased items cannot be returned. This may also be true if the stores are sold to a bidder who intends to keep the business going. Allegedly, David Ritz has financial backers and will attempt to buy part or all of what’s left of the stores and merchandise at the public auction.

Did you purchase an extended service plan? The return policy on those is 30 days. This means if you want to get your money back for the service plan, you’d need to do so before the company sells off its stores and remember, they are going up for auction on July 20th.

Do you have prints, videos, repaired cameras, canvases, posters, books, etc to pick up? Go get them now. Liquidators aren’t responsible for any previously placed orders and have the option to dispose of them.

Who can you call if you have questions?
301-419-0000 is the phone number for the company’s headquarters in Beltsville, Maryland. Office hours are 8am-5pm EST Monday thru Friday

I do urge you to print your pictures ASAP because as I said, most orders are done in an hour. Thank those who taught you how to use your new camera and answered your questions. Thank the men and women who improved upon your photos in the lab. Sadly, thousands more will be unemployed soon like me.

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3 Replies to “Where Have All the Camera Stores Gone?”

  1. I think that much of this has to do with the public’s general lack of loyalty. While we (and I include myself here to some degree) complain about lack of customer service and knowledgeable sales people, we do not want to pay higher prices for the quality. We want the best quality, but at insanely low prices. And while [it] is especially true in this “recession”, this has been an ongoing battle for years.

    For years I sold shoes in a store that catered to middle aged male consumers. Year after year, I would hear complaints that “nothing was made in the USA anymore”. But to get the shoes made in the US, you would need to be willing to pay at LEAST 30% more. When it was all said and done, most opted for the lower priced items, even though they would be purchasing a new pair sooner because of it.

    Businesses need to make a profit. That is why they are in business. I am willing to bet ANYTHING that many of the people that visited Ritz would use the associates for their vast knowledge, and then seek out the product for a lower price. No loyalty.

    Pretty soon your only place to buy ANYTHING will be T****t and W*****t.

  2. Thanks for letting us know…this is awful news, I go to Ritz to develop all the time, I’m not one to just keep them stored in camera or on computer. This will really mess things up for me.
    Thanx again,
    Becky

  3. My Ritz store (#250) was located in a Boscov’s department store. I worked there part time, and when the store closed, despite Mr. Albert Boscov’s efforts to save it, I got a part time job at the same Boscov’s. Not a week passes, but some former Ritz customer stops in and laments our closing.

    We cared. When I saw the crap software that we had to use with our excellent Epson 7800 printer, I brought in my own laptop to make sure customers got quality enlargements.

    True enough, pros and gearheads will buy online from reputable dealers–Ritz could never afford to stock the items that an online warehouse can. But the soccer moms and dads will either be stuck with the ‘big box’ stores (“You want this camera. It’s got more megapixels!”) or go online and get duped by (edited by Lisa) scammers.