Michigan Adray Camera announces retirement

[TTurrill]

After 54 years of operating a retail business in the Detroit area, due to the state of our economy, the Adray Family has decided to retire and close its store in Dearborn. This is your chance today and tomorrow to get the best selection before our advertisement comes out in the Detroit News and Free Press on Friday, February 20, 2009. Get here quick for the best selection.

Thank you,


The Adray Family


Some exclusions apply, in stock items only, no layaways, quantities are limited and subject to prior sale.

Prices Good IN STORE ONLY


CAMERAS - DIGITAL & FILM


Up To 30% Off



BINOCULARS & SPOTTING SCOPES


Up To 25% Off



SONY, ONKYO, JAMO, KOSS, PANASONIC AUDIO & HOME THEATRE EQUIPMENT


Up To 50% Off



SONY, SAMSUNG, SHARP & TOSHIBA HDTV AT GREAT SAVINGS



SMALL ELECTRONICS


10% to 35% Off




LENSES


Up To 30% Off



FILTERS


Up To 30% Off



ALL BOOKS, ALBUMS & FRAMES


40% Off



TRIPODS


Up To 25% Off



CAMERA BAGS


Up To 40% Off



VIDEO CAMERAS


Up To 20% Off

[xPoorboyx]

My aunt just called and told me this. Pretty bummed to see the place go.

[AndyMac85]

didn't shop there often, but they worked in a pinch.

[NickSimcheck]

Hard to justify paying retail (most of the time) AND tax just to help the little man. Sad to see them go tough.

[Nick5]

Hard to justify paying retail (most of the time) AND tax just to help the little man. Sad to see them go tough.
What is a fair price to you, wholesale?
If businesses can not make a profit, no economy.
End of capitalism.

[say_cheese]

I shopped there occasionaly, but not to often. Sad to see them go. I was in Ann Arbor last weekend and was surprised that Big George' s no longer sells photo gear, they were a Canon dealer. Camera Mart up in Pontiac is the only store in Michigan that caters to folks beyond the point & shoot crowd. Is there anyone alse?

[The_Terminator]

Woodward Camera in Birmingham?
I dunno, because I haven't stepped foot in there for over five years. Just never had the need.

[say_cheese]

Yep, I forgot about Woodward. They still have an active web site, so looks like there still in business.

[jsnow]

I pretty much only shopped there for film (went to the one on Big Beaver). I found them to be overpriced by a couple hundred on most L lenses, and $50-100 overpriced on other lenses. But with their going out of business discounts, they should be down to the right price range now :)

[sspellman]

Yep-Woodward Camera and Camera Mart are now the only true camera stores left in the Detroit Area-very sad. There are many times as a professional where you need something that day and now our choices are much more limited. You may need their help too someday, but they wont be there if we are not there for them.

-Scott

[spsmith]

Huron Camera in Dexter is still around - they don't sell to much high end stuff (they do have a few 'L's around and they do sell the 5D2 when they can get them, but no 1D's) however they are authorized for both Nikon and Canon.

I shopped there occasionaly, but not to often. Sad to see them go. I was in Ann Arbor last weekend and was surprised that Big George' s no longer sells photo gear, they were a Canon dealer. Camera Mart up in Pontiac is the only store in Michigan that caters to folks beyond the point & shoot crowd. Is there anyone alse?

[Jon Foster]

When I lived in Dearborn Adray's was the place to go for camera gear. But the last camera I bought there was in 1982 when the Canon AL-1 came out. I think the microwave we still use also came from there back in 1990.

Has anyone gone in to see what kind of deals there are? Is it worth the drive to check them out? I could head down there tomorrow...

Jon.

[Jon Foster]

Wow, I just looked at the Adray website and the pricing is a little steep on everything. Maybe I won't be heading down there...

Jon.

[Jon Foster]

Wow. I just called Adray to see if they had a TC-80N3 in stock and to get a price. They have them but they are $180.00! The going out of business sale is only 10% on this item too. Crazy... I can get them from B&H for about $136.00, no tax and $4.00 to ship it to my door.

Jon.

[FlyingPhotog]

My first "good" camera came from Adray...

A previously owned but lovingly kept T90.

[Kristic]

Looks like they have a killer deal for a 70-200mm f/4
http://i43.tinypic.com/t98md3.jpg

A whole dollar off! Woo

[nphsbuckeye]

What is a fair price to you, wholesale?
If businesses can not make a profit, no economy.
End of capitalism.
Who said anything about fair? And who said we're still capitalistic?

[Josh_30]

Very sad, but these days it's hard for the "little guy" to compete.

[Jon Foster]

I forgot to post an update. We went into the store on Monday afternoon to see what kind of deals they had in general. Nothing! Some of their bags were on sale but even with the discounts the pricing was still more like highway robbery.

Jon.

[Jon Foster]

Well, Adray closed for good yesterday. They had TV ads and everything. From what they said on TV I almost thought there must be some kind of deal worth driving back down there. But I called and asked for a few items I'd be interested in and they didn't have any of them. Oh ya, the 70% discount that the TV stated was really only a 50% discount.

Jon.

[Tom W]

Hate to see them go - It's one of the few, pre-internet outfits that I had heard of in the past. Unfortunately, Detroit's local economy is incredibly bad - much worse off than most of the rest of the country.

It's hard to operate a business when the people with money are moving away.

[lonelyjew]

It sucks but I saw it coming. They closed the one in Troy, close to where I live, when I started to get into photography. Unfortunately even then I knew they probably couldn't compete with the internet, not with 30% markup compared to BH. I bought my nifty 50 from them, my first lens purchase, and payed the extra price to support them, and got a crap lens and even crappier service from the salesman(though the guy I dealt with when I exchanged it was much much better). The last time I went in they didn't have 3 of the lenses I was interested in, were charging a massive premium on the Canon 60mm Macro(even with their sales), didn't have a replacement eyecup for my camera, and didn't even have lens paper. It is unfortunate, it really is, but driving an hour only to find out they don't have any of the things I"m interested and what they do have is marked up to a level I just can't afford just wasn't working for me.

[pastanley]

What is a fair price to you, wholesale?
If businesses can not make a profit, no economy.
End of capitalism.

Well who can we blame for this? B&H Photo? Amazon.com?

[RWatkins]

Very sad, but these days it's hard for the "little guy" to compete.

True, but I wonder how the socioeconomic condition of the area played into this.

[Nick5]

Well who can we blame for this? B&H Photo? Amazon.com?Tadaaaaaaaaaa!

Low ball pricing.

[RWatkins]

Tadaaaaaaaaaa!

Low ball pricing.

One mans "low ball pricing" is another mans superior business model.

[Nick5]

One mans "low ball pricing" is another mans superior business model.Until most of the competition is eliminated. Then prices increase and you have no other choice.
Only a few businesses can survive selling 5% above cost. Not all.
It's like this in all industries.
Like I've said before, no local business, no local economy. No jobs.
No tax base. You know the rest.

[RWatkins]

Until most of the competition is eliminated. Then prices increase and you have no other choice.
Only a few businesses can survive selling 5% above cost. Not all.
It's like this in all industries.
Like I've said before, no local business, no local economy. No jobs.
No tax base. You know the rest.

By competition, I‘m assuming that you mean small local stores vs. on-line retailers (e.g. Amazon.com). If that is the case, then I disagree, given the current structure of sales on the internet.

Lets say that all local stores went away, leaving only on-line sellers for high-end photography gear. Now lets further suppose that Amazon were to increase their prices by 20%...what would happen? I think other retailers, like Abes for example, would see this as an opportunity and sell at the prices before the hike and therefore prosper. Amazon sales would suffer, and they would either lower prices or lose business and gain a bad reputation.

The beauty of sales on the internet is there is almost always choice; there are 20+ sellers for most any item that I can think of. There are some exception to this, but for the most part, there is always choice and its this variety that I think will be a safeguard for price increases based on market dominance.

[Nick5]

Even all on line retailers too. Only a few will survive.
Look at the large home improvement chains that were in business ten years ago. Only Home Depot and Lowe's now.
The Wal-Marting of America.
One small store closing down trickles down to many, many of us.
I like to give my business locally.
Camera equipment or you name it.
If the local economy is strong, great.