Originally posted by Uluru I also thought that Pentax could open 10 real b&m shops wordwide, in Apple-like style, to show people the Pentax experience.
• They could immediately try medium format camera and lenses
• Setup a studio booth with models once a day
• Full range of DSLRs, inside their environment;
—in one corner a DSLRs in rainforest-like wet environment
— next to it a DSLR half buried in deset-like sand, etc.
• A full range of K-mount optics
• All compacts
• Binoculars
• History of Pentax;
— lots of images with the Beatles, with Beatles music playing
— first SLR, then Pentax through decades
• Then short showcases and presentations "How a (D)SLR is made", or "the art of lens design", or, "wedding photography for mums and dads", "beach photography", etc.
• Weekly workshops on how to get to know your camera in fine detail
• Etc.
Where shops would be located?
I thought Tokyo and Hong Kong obviously, then New Delhi, eastern and western US coast (New York, San Francisco?), one in London, then Paris, one in Moscow. One in Sydney or Melbourne Australia. Etc.
If Leica can do it, Pentax can do it too. They have lots of history to show.
Nothing grandiose; just presence to allow experience. That's all.
So, Pentax already have the Pentax Square in Shinjuku:
http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/news/2007/200710.html http://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/tokyo/sights/museum/pentax-square
There, you will find an amazing art gallery where artists will exhibit their Pentax-photos. Generally, 1-2 artists exhibit there for a month, then it changes. Some amazing stuff. There's also the full range of cameras that Pentax ever made exhibited in the window, quite a treat. The rest of the place consists of two spaces, one where they exhibit the gear they make, from the MX-1 through the K5iis to the 645D. Very nice playground.
The other space, then have a huge cupboard with all the lenses they make. It's locked, but you can ask to try one, and there's a counter - think, "genius bar" - where you can talk to a tech about your gear, and drop it off for CLA or repair or sensor cleaning or whatnot.
They also sell various doodad's in there. I actually do not /know/ if you could walk in with enough cash and walk away with a new 645D, but I suspect that you might just....I've usually picked up hard-to-find widgets (say, a hood for a DA*) there. When asking for something that the shop-clerk knows to be cheaper in regular commerce, my experience is that they've said "Well, I have that in stock, but it'll be cheaper at Yodobashi..."
It's a very "classy" establishment, not overrun (but still with a good number of people whenever I've been there), with really knowledgable staff. Very nice looking, very much more classy than an Apple-store
I'm give to understand that they also organize various other events and lectures and such, but (i) I am not Japanese and (ii) I am usually just rushing by when in Japan on business, so I have not dug into this.
Oh, and they proudly display the three FA Limited front, left, and center around the shop. They're /really/ proud of these (can't say that I disagree, it just makes me happy)
So, I'd say that Pentax already have pretty much what you ask for already - in Tokyo (obviously
).
Would it make commercial sense to open one outside of Tokyo? If so, I hope that they'll think of Paris first
and that it'll be staffed by Japanese staff trained in the Tokyo outfit to the same standards.