Local Store Closed

[staciecd]

Just need to vent! I've been keeping a list of little things that I want to buy for my camera - lens covers, grey card, UV, cleaners, etc. and have been saving up to go to Modern Shutterbug - Owings Mills' local camera store. I was just in there in March and was told to buy a camera from them over BH because I would get the personal touch. Ha - I pulled up and the store was gone and up for lease with no forwarding address. What really gets to me is think of the killer clearance sale!

[cdifoto]

Sh*t Happens.

[vjack]

I do get frustrated sometimes not having a decent local camera store because it means that I have to buy everything sight unseen. However, I can understand why so few last when they can't compete with internet pricing. I guess it is sort of the same thing with Wal-Marts replacing local businesses.

[ssim]

Sadly, this is the way of the future. The bricks and mortar storefronts are quickly becoming a way of the past in some industries. Who is to blame, if there is any, well the internet for the most part. The internet stores have the buying power that the small shops don't.

I live about 3 hours from the nearest decent photo shop. I have one in my commmunity that bill themselves as a good photo shop but they carry next to no stock. I make the drive at least once every other week.

I understand your frustrattion.

[Steve Parr]

Originally Posted by ssim

The internet stores have the buying power that the small shops don't.

No they don't. What they do have is the selling power.

I used to work for a brick & mortar retailer in San Diego. One day, the owner decided to "go online". Within a year, sales doubled. Within two years, sales doubled again. Within four years, a store that did about $200,000.00 per year was doing well over $1,000,000.00 in gross sales a year.

The manufacturers weren't necessarily charging less for their products (volume discounts are not a given). We were just buying and selling more because our customer base went from San Diego to, quite literally, the entire world.

I've seen more internet businesses fail than I care to count, while watching brick & mortar stores, that don't have websites, thrive.

The difference is the level of customer service that a brick & mortar store can offer. An online retailer downloads the day's orders off of a secure server, a salesman processes them (quite often with no customer contact), and the orders get shipped.

A salesman at a brick & mortar store interacts with a customer; learns what the customer is and isn't interested in, and makes recommendations based on that. An online retailer assumes that the person who places an order has done the research required to narrow it down to the product ordered.

If a brick & mortar store is a good store, has a good selection, treats their customers well, and has competitive prices (they don't even have to be cheaper), it'll survive. If it doesn't, it's because it's either poorly run, or the owner just doesn't care...

[In2Photos]

After working in retail for around 10 years I have to say that I agree with Steve. The brick and mortar stores can hold their own if they choose to. THey just don't chosse to. I love going to my local store but hate looking at their prices compared to the likes of B&H. Usually I buy used and they can compete then but they don't always have what I want/need.

[staciecd]

I have to agree. I went in there to look at the Rebel and I can't say that I was overly thrilled with the help that I received. Now my dad went in there for years and never had a problem.

[CoolToolGuy]

Its truly not a loss - I had been stopping in there from time to time, and the only things I could find to buy were cases, lens cloths, and the like. Truth be told, I worked there part time many years ago, and I know the owner. They just couldn't make the jump to digital, and the last time I was in there, their used equipment looked more like a museum than an inventory.Rest In Peace, Shutter Bug - it was time for you to go away.So, Stacie, time to get your butt down to Camera Mart in Greenspring Station - since they were taken over by Penn Camera their inventory and selection has improved imensely.Have Fun,

[CoolToolGuy]

OBTW - Does your dad know you have a "white lens" addiction, or is that a borrowed lens in your avatar? Have Fun,

[staciecd]

I forgot about Greenspring Station. Will have to check it out one day after work. I just need a few small things that I knew Shutterbug could supply - cleaner and such. Yeah I noticed the relics, unwillingness to work on my digital, etc. But I had high hopes.

Thanks!

[Steve Parr]

A couple of years ago, my brother and I were visiting my Mom in North Carolina. One morning, my brother saw a newspaper article about a long-time camera store that was closing. They were selling everything cheap.

Of course, we had to go.

I asked one of the salesmen why they were closing. He said that the digitial camera craze was what was killing them. He said that, with film cameras, people always came back for film, and to get their photos developed. With digital, he said they'd sell a camera and never see the customer again.

The internet had nothing to do with it, the state of the economy; nothing.

I thought that was odd because, as a digital photographer, I'm in camera stores all the time, and they always seem crowded. I can't believe that all those people are first-time shoppers.

It was, I think, a perfect example of a store being run poorly...

[CoolToolGuy]

Originally Posted by Steve Parr

A couple of years ago, my brother and I were visiting my Mom in North Carolina. One morning, my brother saw a newspaper article about a long-time camera store that was closing. They were selling everything cheap.

Of course, we had to go.

I asked one of the salesmen why they were closing. He said that the digitial camera craze was what was killing them. He said that, with film cameras, people always came back for film, and to get their photos developed. With digital, he said they'd sell a camera and never see the customer again.

The internet had nothing to do with it, the state of the economy; nothing.

I thought that was odd because, as a digital photographer, I'm in camera stores all the time, and they always seem crowded. I can't believe that all those people are first-time shoppers.

It was, I think, a perfect example of a store being run poorly...

Perhaps, but the film/developing cash flow issue is not to be ignored. For most small photo shops the profit from film/developing paid a lot of the bills, and kept folks coming in on a regular basis (traffic). No question that the switch to digital can be made, but film/developing was so basic to the equation that some stores could not think outside the film can to figure out how to cope.

Have Fun,

[Lord_Malone]

My local camera shop, a pretty good shop (and it's not Wolf Camera), can't compete with internet pricing. Hence, they suffer.

[Lord_Malone]

Originally Posted by vjack

I guess it is sort of the same thing with Wal-Marts replacing local businesses.

Dude, that is one of my favorite South Park episodes.

[staciecd]

Originally Posted by CoolToolGuy

OBTW - Does your dad know you have a "white lens" addiction, or is that a borrowed lens in your avatar? Have Fun,

hehehehe, I borrowed a friend's and yes, I got addicted immediately. I'm using the honeymoon to Hawaii - a once in a lifetime trip - as an excuse to get one.

stacie