[kenyee]

They appear to be having severe issues:
UPDATE 1-Ritz Camera files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

And shafted Canon/Nikon in the process

[X Man]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-talk/52069-ritz-camera-files-bankruptcy.html

[GoldenWreckedAngle]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-talk/52069-ritz-camera-files-bankruptcy.html

Hate to see anyone getting stiffed on a bill that size. It may give a little insight into another reason why Pentax is not prevalent in many stores though. If manufacturers are having to float their retailers to the tune of several million it may be Hoya pulling back on the Pentax shelf stock rather than the retailers themselves.

[rfortson]

Well, there's sweet irony in this as there were more than one post about Ritz steering customers away from Pentax as Pentax was about to go out of business.

Of course, I've got $100 in Ritz rebates outstanding, so I guess I may wind up the loser here.

[GoldenWreckedAngle]

Well, there's sweet irony in this as there were more than one post about Ritz steering customers away from Pentax as Pentax was about to go out of business.

Of course, I've got $100 in Ritz rebates outstanding, so I guess I may wind up the loser here.

I do hear you but I don't really see the irony being all that sweet. The quick chuckle wore off for me when I realized that the sad truth is that everyone represented by Ritz is going out of business in the locations where they shut down, even Pentax. Canon and Nikon are loosing millions in the deal so they are probably the hardest hit but every manufacturer out there is probably taking notes and revising their policies.

[kenyee]

sorry...I didn't realize there was a thread on this in the General forum already :-P

[rfortson]

I do hear you but I don't really see the irony being all that sweet. The quick chuckle wore off for me when I realized that the sad truth is that everyone represented by Ritz is going out of business in the locations where they shut down, even Pentax. Canon and Nikon are loosing millions in the deal so they are probably the hardest hit but every manufacturer out there is probably taking notes and revising their policies.

Not really, sales are shifting more and more to the internet, especially Pentax. And I'm all for it. Even though I live in Houston and have pretty much anything I want within an hour's drive (okay, 2 hours given traffic), I still prefer to buy the vast majority of my things over the web. It's just much more convenient and costs less, and I can find pretty much anything without hunting all over town, or waiting for someone to order so I can drive across town to look at it.

Pentax has done a lot the past year to carve out a nice web presence, including opening their own webstore, opening a webstore at Walmart.com, and showing up at such web icons as Newegg.com. Ritz closing was destined to happen, since in most cases, specialty chain stores are pretty much doomed by the internet. Of all the Ritz I visited in several states, they rarely offered anything outside the big 2, and they just as rarely offered any real service.

[Venturi]

I've got mixed feelings about this.
One the one hand, I've never liked "mall shops" like Ritz and I attribute the earlier success of Ritz somewhat to the demise of Ye Ole Local Camera Shoppe (I know box stores and online are as much to "blame" though).
On the other hand, I don't like seeing any business go under (unless they are EVIL) and I certainly don't want to see more people having to beat the streets looking for work.

The silver lining in this, should Ritz go under completely, would be (insert pipe dream here) if the void created by Ritz going away gave local entrepreneurs the gumption to open what I call "real camera stores".

[alohadave]

The silver lining in this, should Ritz go under completely, would be (insert pipe dream here) if the void created by Ritz going away gave local entrepreneurs the gumption to open what I call "real camera stores".

Not likely. Unless it's a specialty shop with enough of a local market to support it, it would be very difficult to support something like that. It worked in the past because the Internet wasn't around to allow you to price compare and buy at low prices.

The big box stores have the buying power to keep prices down that independents can't match.

[reeftool]

In the current economic climate seeing "real" camera stores pop up to replace Ritz isn't likely. What would be nice is seeing one of the big box chains pick up the slack and have a "real" photo department rather than a display case of consumer P&S cameras and a couple of DSLR's. Years ago we had a dept. store chain called Barkers and they had a photo isle. They sold cameras and film like everyone else but also sold things like developing tanks and chemicals and paper along with Vivitar and Soligor lenses.

[Ratmagiclady]

In the current economic climate seeing "real" camera stores pop up to replace Ritz isn't likely. What would be nice is seeing one of the big box chains pick up the slack and have a "real" photo department rather than a display case of consumer P&S cameras and a couple of DSLR's. Years ago we had a dept. store chain called Barkers and they had a photo isle. They sold cameras and film like everyone else but also sold things like developing tanks and chemicals and paper along with Vivitar and Soligor lenses.

Wonder if there's a chance of seeing small shops again when things start reaching an upswing. I think a bit of a new (or old) business model might be in order. One thing about the Ritz/Wolf homogenization is that they're all pretty much clones: if they're all making the same moves, (or not-moves) then when those moves don't work, they all suffer the consequences.

Could be one small good thing about this general debacle we've been left with is, it could cut the mini-mall thing down a peg. One thing a camera store needs, I think, is foot traffic, rather than counting on people to plan a drive out. Retail space is presently going empty, and it might just make some smaller operations have a chance. Kind of a lot involved, there.

[Saaby]

I hate to sound bitter but...

...I stopped off at ye old camera shoppe today. Let's call it Alf's Camera. Small chain of 3 stores, and it looks like they do a fair amount of business over the internet.

They didn't have Gaffer's tape, they didn't even seem to know what it was, and they only had 1 roll of the kind of film I like, and a terrible selection of film for being, uhh, a camera store. I was going to ask about a step-up ring, but it looked like their selection of filters and rings were eBay quality at B+W prices.

So I left nearly empty handed (I did buy the 1 roll of film), it looks like I'll have to order everything I need from B&H anyway. To a store like that I think "Let em' go under."

That's hardly the case with everything though! There's a photo processor here in town who I just adore. They are one of 2 places you can get medium format film developed locally, and I suppose the fact that they're the sole-people filling a niche keeps them in business, but I'm just pleased as can be every time I use them. Last time I went to run some 120 through my Holga, I'd managed to loose all my spools. They were more than happy to set me up with a lifetime supply of spools, and they sent me away with some delicious candy too (This was at Christmas time).

The camera store I mentioned at the beginning of this post happens to be the other place that can process 120 film. Even enough Borge is much further away from me than this other place, you can guess which place gets my business!

[Jasvox]

Ritz camera = always over priced and frequently rude or unhelpful/unknowledgeable...No wonder they are going belly up.

Jason