Wolf Camera No Longer Carries Pentax

Jackm · 07-07-2009, 10:43 PM

Originally posted by MRRiley

Only from an organizational viewpoint Jack... Ritz and Wolf's B&M and online stores are all owned by David Ritz who screwed up when he partnered with his brother who owned Boater's World. Boater's World sank and almost took Ritz and Wolf Camera with it.

I honestly am too much of a conspiracy theorist to think they "screwed up"
Wolf camera bought out a whole bunch of stores making him bankrupt, which then ritz camera purchases at a fraction of the cost it would of been for him to purchase all the small camera companies out of business by himself. Abusing like many companies do the bankruptcy laws.

And yeah, I know they are owned by the same people. But think of it, he has this failing company brickstore company that's pretty much only purpose I think is to advertise for his online company and sell his Quantary brand company that he also owns. Eventually the brickstore will fail, but he still has quantary and his online store.

But like someone pointed out previously there are far more terrible things other companies do then this.

And this is my personal opinion, I have a habbit of being to paranoid with big companeis like this

fwbigd · 07-08-2009, 06:59 AM

Originally posted by jogiba

I don't see why anyone would need to touch the camera before purchase unless they have no clue what they are getting.

If you haven’t seen it and tried it out you certainly don’t know what you are getting. When the K20D came out, I went to Arlington Camera and test it out and left the store without purchasing it. It simply did not meet my standards or expatiations. I am very happy that I got the opportunity to test if before wasting my money.

The same is true when I purchased my first DA* 16-50. It was junk! Arlington Camera exchanged it the next day.

Art Vandelay II · 07-08-2009, 08:01 AM

Originally posted by jogiba

I don't see why anyone would need to touch the camera before purchase unless they have no clue what they are getting.

Seriously? Man, I'm the opposite. I have to touch something before I buy it. Especially a $1000+ camera. The only reason my first DSLR was a Pentax is because Wolf Camera carried them at the time and noticed the K100D felt much better to me then any of the other entry level DSLR's. Without that I would have probably just bought a D40 or D80.

In Charlotte, NC Biggs Camera still carries Pentax, but last time I was in there the clerk had never even heard of the K-7 and after I told him about it he said he doubts he'd get any in because he hasn't sold a Pentax body in months. And I see they don't have the K-7 listed on their site now, so I guess he wasn't lying. All in all though, a really good camera shop. Every bit as nice as J&R in NYC. If camera stores like that decide to drop Pentax then I don't see much of a brick and mortar retail future for Pentax. Even at B&H in NYC Pentax's display paled in comparison to everyone else's.

lesmore49 · 07-08-2009, 08:02 AM

I'm not an American...but I thought I read that Wolf and Ritz are ....are..one firm and there were bankruptcy proceedings which began in Feb. /09.

Ritz Camera Centers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A number of stores were closed some remain open according to this info. I read.

I used to go to a Ritz camera store over the border...but I was never impressed. Prices generally were better at the places I buy in Canada . Maybe it was just this particular store.

Ritz Camera Going Out of Business

Last edited by lesmore49; 07-08-2009 at 08:11 AM.

stevebrot · 07-08-2009, 08:49 AM

Originally posted by lesmore49

I'm not an American...but I thought I read that Wolf and Ritz are ....are..one firm and there were bankruptcy proceedings which began in Feb. /09.

Ritz Camera Centers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A number of stores were closed some remain open according to this info. I read.

I used to go to a Ritz camera store over the border...but I was never impressed. Prices generally were better at the places I buy in Canada . Maybe it was just this particular store.

Ritz Camera Going Out of Business

The real shame in my mind was when Ritz bought out Kits Camera, a Vancouver-based company (named for Kitsilano, a Vancouver neighborhood). They were a decent small chain with excellent products and customer service.

Steve

P.S. Ditto for their purchase of Camera World of Oregon.

mithrandir · 07-08-2009, 03:15 PM

Ritz, the parent company, has announced that they will close their remaining 400 stores.

stevebrot · 07-08-2009, 03:48 PM

Originally posted by mithrandir

Ritz, the parent company, has announced that they will close their remaining 400 stores.

Do you have a reference? I could not find anything...

Edit:

Found it...

After 91 Years, Ritz Camera Announces Plans to Liquidate - washingtonpost.com

Steve

(So much for Pentax going belly-up...)

MrApollinax · 07-08-2009, 05:11 PM

Ned Bunnell also posted a message on his blog about the closing of Ritz:

NED BUNNELL: Ritz Camera Update

Just a sad acknowledgement of the changing times and it's effect on retail from the President of Pentax USA.

pxpaulx · 07-08-2009, 06:56 PM

Just had the usual fun experience at the twin cities camera chain, national camera. After waiting in line (4 people behind the counter, they cant be doing too badly if they are all occupied w/customers who were all buying!).

It is funny watching them sell point and shoots. one guy was standing in front of the camera waving his hand while the salesman took a picture. he was apparently convinced this was how you test the anti-shake feature! The next guy was at the end of his sale. They had to call another store because they didn't have the color he wanted (this is very important!). After the camera pitch was done, the real killer started when she started pitching their memory cards. 4gb is 50 bucks!

I swear as she sheepishly said 'Fifty' when the customer asked, she shot me a quick glance and then turned away. she had to figure if i had a little black lens in my hand I must've known something she wasn't sharing (you know, the 400% markup maybe? 400% is conservative based on newegg).

Oh, at this point the salesman w/the hand waver has tossed (literally) the two olympus tough compacts on the counter (their glass counter...) to show how tough they really are. I would love to be there when it goes through the counter completely. Says he does that for everyone to show how tough it is, and a couple minutes later the girl does it with that new canon WP camera. The guy buying the camera and expensive, expensive, expensive memory card just kinda pushes it back. If he is concerned about color, you think he'd go for that thing?!

I just can't believe how much some people are suckers, it truly is sad.

So, now its my turn. I return an old manual lens i bought a few weeks ago because I realized I would never use it (I am not going to disclose which one!). I'm pretty sure national camera has either dropped (or been dropped?) by pentax (more likely dropped as they push the big brands, hard), as there is nothing left on the shelf - I asked about stocking pentax, to which she replied, rarely. No idea about the K7 (really?)

But, it gets better! They were all like samsung is in talks to buy pentax (specifically, for the last 8 months...?) This is news to me. Then another guy pipes up (the old, wise pro seller) yeah, hoya has destroyed pentax, and we are waiting to see if samsung buys them and pumps a ton of money their way before WE decide to carry them again. wow, just wow.

On a side note gave the new olympus digital pen a go; very nice looking, reviews show great photos, but the lens is kind of quirky, and between olympus and panasonic can you count the different mounts on one hand anymore?

fwbigd · 07-08-2009, 07:55 PM

Originally posted by MrApollinax

Ned Bunnell also posted a message on his blog about the closing of Ritz:

NED BUNNELL: Ritz Camera Update

Just a sad acknowledgement of the changing times and it's effect on retail from the President of Pentax USA.

The sad note is not that Ritz filed for bankruptcy, but the path that Pentax/Hoya has taken in marketing their products. It’s not just Ritz/Wolf Camera that no longer carries Pentax. I would bet that the majority of local camera stores in the USA no longer carry Pentax. It now seems that the only source for Pentax is ordering via the Internet.

pxpaulx · 07-08-2009, 08:11 PM

Originally posted by fwbigd

The sad note is not that Ritz filed for bankruptcy, but the path that Pentax/Hoya has taken in marketing their products. It’s not just Ritz/Wolf Camera that no longer carries Pentax. I would bet that the majority of local camera stores in the USA no longer carry Pentax. It now seems that the only source for Pentax is ordering via the Internet.

I think, somewhat sadly you are right. I always felt alittle guilty about going into national camera to check something out I knew I would never buy from them (See my last post just above for the multiple reasons why!). I feel much less guilty clicking "item not as described" when returning something to amazon in order to avoid shipping charges though, and their return policy is just as long.

TomE · 07-08-2009, 09:01 PM

Just called National Camera Exchange in the Minneapolis area, the largest camera stores in the Metro area, and they are no longer carrying Pentax. I purchased my last Pentax DSLR from them, they were very knowledgeable about the brand and did not try to get me to switch to Canon or Nikon. My experiance there seems to be better than others on this forum (Maple Grove Store) and I am sorry to see them no longer having Pentax on the shelves.

They told me Pentax does not support them any longer after letting go all the Pentax Representatives and they don't see Pentax being a major player any longer compared to Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus, which they still carry.

I fail to see how Pentax can gain new users without any stores having their gear on the shelves considering the price of the K7 and the new DA* lenses. Who in the world other than the fan boys is going to purchase gear as expensive as the latest Pentax lenses and cameras sight unseen, when they can look at Canon and Nikon at any number of stores.

As I mentioned before, I will not purchase the new K7 without first handling it and trying it out and since there are no stores any where around where I live carrying it, I will never buy one.

pxpaulx · 07-09-2009, 08:09 AM

Originally posted by ennacac

Just called National Camera Exchange in the Minneapolis area, the largest camera stores in the Metro area, and they are no longer carrying Pentax. I purchased my last Pentax DSLR from them, they were very knowledgeable about the brand and did not try to get me to switch to Canon or Nikon. My experiance there seems to be better than others on this forum (Maple Grove Store) and I am sorry to see them no longer having Pentax on the shelves.

They told me Pentax does not support them any longer after letting go all the Pentax Representatives and they don't see Pentax being a major player any longer compared to Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus, which they still carry.

I fail to see how Pentax can gain new users without any stores having their gear on the shelves considering the price of the K7 and the new DA* lenses. Who in the world other than the fan boys is going to purchase gear as expensive as the latest Pentax lenses and cameras sight unseen, when they can look at Canon and Nikon at any number of stores.

As I mentioned before, I will not purchase the new K7 without first handling it and trying it out and since there are no stores any where around where I live carrying it, I will never buy one.

This certainly sounds more accurate regarding natcam. The burnsville location closest to me shunned pentax every chance they got. But, while I noted the funny things going on last night, the other salesmen was helping a young couple out with an olympus dslr, and suggested the SR was worth price over the e-420 (which doesn't have SR), and also asked if they were interested in refurbs! I have also had their employees be genuinely interested in my pentax setup, so they don't all tow the party line, so to speak.

With regards to your comments about handling a camera, I am torn. My upgrade to the K20d probably would not have happened as quickly had I not held one at national camera (still waited until I got a decent deal, but if I had not held it I would've probably not upgraded - but I am very glad I did! going to wait for the k7 to reach today's k20 prices though). That being said, I think amazon is gradually becoming my retailer of choice online, from cameras to a french press (cant beat their prices/shipping). not generally a coffee drinker, but cold pressed coffee is amazing, haha.

jogiba · 07-10-2009, 09:52 AM

Walmart has the K-7 in stock with free shipping to your local Walmart store.
BestBuy also has free shipping with the K-7.

**monochrome** · 07-10-2009, 11:44 AM

Originally posted by fwbigd

Checked with two local Wolf Camera stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, and was advised that they were told by the corporate headquarters that they would no longer carry Pentax cameras.

Shortly Ritz/Wolf/Kits Camera won't carry anything at all.

Ritz Camera seeks to sell remaining stores.

07-08-2009, 03:15 PM	#36
mithrandir Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Maryland Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,895	Ritz, Wolf, et al DOWN THE TUBES Ritz, the parent company, has announced that they will close their remaining 400 stores.

07-08-2009, 03:48 PM	#37
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by mithrandir Ritz, the parent company, has announced that they will close their remaining 400 stores. Do you have a reference? I could not find anything... Edit: Found it... After 91 Years, Ritz Camera Announces Plans to Liquidate - washingtonpost.com Steve (So much for Pentax going belly-up...)

07-08-2009, 07:55 PM	#40
fwbigd Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Fort Worth TX Posts: 339 Original Poster	Originally posted by MrApollinax Ned Bunnell also posted a message on his blog about the closing of Ritz: NED BUNNELL: Ritz Camera Update Just a sad acknowledgement of the changing times and it's effect on retail from the President of Pentax USA. The sad note is not that Ritz filed for bankruptcy, but the path that Pentax/Hoya has taken in marketing their products. It’s not just Ritz/Wolf Camera that no longer carries Pentax. I would bet that the majority of local camera stores in the USA no longer carry Pentax. It now seems that the only source for Pentax is ordering via the Internet. Last edited by fwbigd; 07-08-2009 at 08:01 PM.

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07-07-2009, 10:43 PM	#31
Jackm New Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Nowhere Special Photos: Gallery Posts: 12	Originally posted by MRRiley Only from an organizational viewpoint Jack... Ritz and Wolf's B&M and online stores are all owned by David Ritz who screwed up when he partnered with his brother who owned Boater's World. Boater's World sank and almost took Ritz and Wolf Camera with it. I honestly am too much of a conspiracy theorist to think they "screwed up" Wolf camera bought out a whole bunch of stores making him bankrupt, which then ritz camera purchases at a fraction of the cost it would of been for him to purchase all the small camera companies out of business by himself. Abusing like many companies do the bankruptcy laws. And yeah, I know they are owned by the same people. But think of it, he has this failing company brickstore company that's pretty much only purpose I think is to advertise for his online company and sell his Quantary brand company that he also owns. Eventually the brickstore will fail, but he still has quantary and his online store. But like someone pointed out previously there are far more terrible things other companies do then this. And this is my personal opinion, I have a habbit of being to paranoid with big companeis like this

07-08-2009, 06:59 AM	#32
fwbigd Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Fort Worth TX Posts: 339 Original Poster	Originally posted by jogiba I don't see why anyone would need to touch the camera before purchase unless they have no clue what they are getting. If you haven’t seen it and tried it out you certainly don’t know what you are getting. When the K20D came out, I went to Arlington Camera and test it out and left the store without purchasing it. It simply did not meet my standards or expatiations. I am very happy that I got the opportunity to test if before wasting my money. The same is true when I purchased my first DA* 16-50. It was junk! Arlington Camera exchanged it the next day.

07-08-2009, 08:01 AM	#33
Art Vandelay II Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Charlotte, NC Photos: Gallery Posts: 886	Originally posted by jogiba I don't see why anyone would need to touch the camera before purchase unless they have no clue what they are getting. Seriously? Man, I'm the opposite. I have to touch something before I buy it. Especially a $1000+ camera. The only reason my first DSLR was a Pentax is because Wolf Camera carried them at the time and noticed the K100D felt much better to me then any of the other entry level DSLR's. Without that I would have probably just bought a D40 or D80. In Charlotte, NC Biggs Camera still carries Pentax, but last time I was in there the clerk had never even heard of the K-7 and after I told him about it he said he doubts he'd get any in because he hasn't sold a Pentax body in months. And I see they don't have the K-7 listed on their site now, so I guess he wasn't lying. All in all though, a really good camera shop. Every bit as nice as J&R in NYC. If camera stores like that decide to drop Pentax then I don't see much of a brick and mortar retail future for Pentax. Even at B&H in NYC Pentax's display paled in comparison to everyone else's.

07-08-2009, 08:02 AM	#34
lesmore49 Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Western Canada Posts: 12,344	I'm not an American...but I thought I read that Wolf and Ritz are ....are..one firm and there were bankruptcy proceedings which began in Feb. /09. Ritz Camera Centers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A number of stores were closed some remain open according to this info. I read. I used to go to a Ritz camera store over the border...but I was never impressed. Prices generally were better at the places I buy in Canada . Maybe it was just this particular store. Ritz Camera Going Out of Business Last edited by lesmore49; 07-08-2009 at 08:11 AM.

07-08-2009, 08:49 AM	#35
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by lesmore49 I'm not an American...but I thought I read that Wolf and Ritz are ....are..one firm and there were bankruptcy proceedings which began in Feb. /09. Ritz Camera Centers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A number of stores were closed some remain open according to this info. I read. I used to go to a Ritz camera store over the border...but I was never impressed. Prices generally were better at the places I buy in Canada . Maybe it was just this particular store. Ritz Camera Going Out of Business The real shame in my mind was when Ritz bought out Kits Camera, a Vancouver-based company (named for Kitsilano, a Vancouver neighborhood). They were a decent small chain with excellent products and customer service. Steve P.S. Ditto for their purchase of Camera World of Oregon.

07-08-2009, 05:11 PM	#38
MrApollinax Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Minnesota Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,529	Ned Bunnell also posted a message on his blog about the closing of Ritz: NED BUNNELL: Ritz Camera Update Just a sad acknowledgement of the changing times and it's effect on retail from the President of Pentax USA.

07-08-2009, 06:56 PM	#39
pxpaulx Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 2,867	Just had the usual fun experience at the twin cities camera chain, national camera. After waiting in line (4 people behind the counter, they cant be doing too badly if they are all occupied w/customers who were all buying!). It is funny watching them sell point and shoots. one guy was standing in front of the camera waving his hand while the salesman took a picture. he was apparently convinced this was how you test the anti-shake feature! The next guy was at the end of his sale. They had to call another store because they didn't have the color he wanted (this is very important!). After the camera pitch was done, the real killer started when she started pitching their memory cards. 4gb is 50 bucks! I swear as she sheepishly said 'Fifty' when the customer asked, she shot me a quick glance and then turned away. she had to figure if i had a little black lens in my hand I must've known something she wasn't sharing (you know, the 400% markup maybe? 400% is conservative based on newegg). Oh, at this point the salesman w/the hand waver has tossed (literally) the two olympus tough compacts on the counter (their glass counter...) to show how tough they really are. I would love to be there when it goes through the counter completely. Says he does that for everyone to show how tough it is, and a couple minutes later the girl does it with that new canon WP camera. The guy buying the camera and expensive, expensive, expensive memory card just kinda pushes it back. If he is concerned about color, you think he'd go for that thing?! I just can't believe how much some people are suckers, it truly is sad. So, now its my turn. I return an old manual lens i bought a few weeks ago because I realized I would never use it (I am not going to disclose which one!). I'm pretty sure national camera has either dropped (or been dropped?) by pentax (more likely dropped as they push the big brands, hard), as there is nothing left on the shelf - I asked about stocking pentax, to which she replied, rarely. No idea about the K7 (really?) But, it gets better! They were all like samsung is in talks to buy pentax (specifically, for the last 8 months...?) This is news to me. Then another guy pipes up (the old, wise pro seller) yeah, hoya has destroyed pentax, and we are waiting to see if samsung buys them and pumps a ton of money their way before WE decide to carry them again. wow, just wow. On a side note gave the new olympus digital pen a go; very nice looking, reviews show great photos, but the lens is kind of quirky, and between olympus and panasonic can you count the different mounts on one hand anymore?

07-08-2009, 08:11 PM	#41
pxpaulx Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 2,867	Originally posted by fwbigd The sad note is not that Ritz filed for bankruptcy, but the path that Pentax/Hoya has taken in marketing their products. It’s not just Ritz/Wolf Camera that no longer carries Pentax. I would bet that the majority of local camera stores in the USA no longer carry Pentax. It now seems that the only source for Pentax is ordering via the Internet. I think, somewhat sadly you are right. I always felt alittle guilty about going into national camera to check something out I knew I would never buy from them (See my last post just above for the multiple reasons why!). I feel much less guilty clicking "item not as described" when returning something to amazon in order to avoid shipping charges though, and their return policy is just as long.

07-08-2009, 09:01 PM	#42
TomE Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 299	Just called National Camera Exchange in the Minneapolis area, the largest camera stores in the Metro area, and they are no longer carrying Pentax. I purchased my last Pentax DSLR from them, they were very knowledgeable about the brand and did not try to get me to switch to Canon or Nikon. My experiance there seems to be better than others on this forum (Maple Grove Store) and I am sorry to see them no longer having Pentax on the shelves. They told me Pentax does not support them any longer after letting go all the Pentax Representatives and they don't see Pentax being a major player any longer compared to Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus, which they still carry. I fail to see how Pentax can gain new users without any stores having their gear on the shelves considering the price of the K7 and the new DA* lenses. Who in the world other than the fan boys is going to purchase gear as expensive as the latest Pentax lenses and cameras sight unseen, when they can look at Canon and Nikon at any number of stores. As I mentioned before, I will not purchase the new K7 without first handling it and trying it out and since there are no stores any where around where I live carrying it, I will never buy one.

07-09-2009, 08:09 AM	#43
pxpaulx Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 2,867	Originally posted by ennacac Just called National Camera Exchange in the Minneapolis area, the largest camera stores in the Metro area, and they are no longer carrying Pentax. I purchased my last Pentax DSLR from them, they were very knowledgeable about the brand and did not try to get me to switch to Canon or Nikon. My experiance there seems to be better than others on this forum (Maple Grove Store) and I am sorry to see them no longer having Pentax on the shelves. They told me Pentax does not support them any longer after letting go all the Pentax Representatives and they don't see Pentax being a major player any longer compared to Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus, which they still carry. I fail to see how Pentax can gain new users without any stores having their gear on the shelves considering the price of the K7 and the new DA* lenses. Who in the world other than the fan boys is going to purchase gear as expensive as the latest Pentax lenses and cameras sight unseen, when they can look at Canon and Nikon at any number of stores. As I mentioned before, I will not purchase the new K7 without first handling it and trying it out and since there are no stores any where around where I live carrying it, I will never buy one. This certainly sounds more accurate regarding natcam. The burnsville location closest to me shunned pentax every chance they got. But, while I noted the funny things going on last night, the other salesmen was helping a young couple out with an olympus dslr, and suggested the SR was worth price over the e-420 (which doesn't have SR), and also asked if they were interested in refurbs! I have also had their employees be genuinely interested in my pentax setup, so they don't all tow the party line, so to speak. With regards to your comments about handling a camera, I am torn. My upgrade to the K20d probably would not have happened as quickly had I not held one at national camera (still waited until I got a decent deal, but if I had not held it I would've probably not upgraded - but I am very glad I did! going to wait for the k7 to reach today's k20 prices though). That being said, I think amazon is gradually becoming my retailer of choice online, from cameras to a french press (cant beat their prices/shipping). not generally a coffee drinker, but cold pressed coffee is amazing, haha.

07-10-2009, 09:52 AM	#44
jogiba Banned Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Millstone,NJ Posts: 6,491	Walmart has the K-7 in stock with free shipping to your local Walmart store. BestBuy also has free shipping with the K-7.

07-10-2009, 11:44 AM	#45
monochrome Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Working From Home Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 26,276	Originally posted by fwbigd Checked with two local Wolf Camera stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, and was advised that they were told by the corporate headquarters that they would no longer carry Pentax cameras. Shortly Ritz/Wolf/Kits Camera won't carry anything at all. Ritz Camera seeks to sell remaining stores.