| I suppose i'm just a little old fashioned in that I prefer to shop locally and also hold a product in my hands to see what i'm getting. I realize the specialty store is dying, whether its a camera store, music store, appliance store, etc. The trend is internet and mail order or large chain retailers and even the large retailers are hurting. A very large chunk of the population prefers to shop online and business is going to adjust to that. No retail store in a prime location, just a warehouse, a server, a multi line phone system and a few stock pickers and somebody to answer the phones. Some businesses don't even have the warehouse, just have the order drop shipped.
Personally, I consider it somewhat dishonest to pick the brains of the sales people in a store and then go buy the product online but I know that kind of thing is done. A big city like NY or Boston can support retail stores simply because of the large volume of people there. If only 1 out of a hundred camera buyers is the guy who wants to go to a camera store, a business like B&H will do nicely in a city of millions but in smaller towns and citys its tough. Years ago, the dept stores sold Brownies and Instamatics and if you wanted an SLR you had to go to a camera store. I guess my biggest gripe is now that the big stores sell the cameras, they don't sell all the other stuff too like tripods, filters, flashes and so on. Camera and kit lens, nothing more. Its no surprise that this Christmas season, the retailers got hit hard and Amazon had their best year ever. As people have had to get the add on accessories for any of the products they have bought in the big box stores by ordering it after the purchase, I think this year they just stayed home and ordered everything online. |