Originally posted by dadipentak I sure hope the shops in my neck of the woods get on board. I like having B&M shops to turn to and (after losing a great fly-fishing shop to the internet) went out of my way to try to buy photography gear locally only to find Pentax shut out.
If I am not mistaken, a shop in your "neck of the woods" would be Penn Camera. They are a great camera shop with folks who can and will speak intelligently to Professionals and first time camera owners alike. I have had the occasion to speak with their staff on a few occasions and have been very impressed. They did drop Pentax from their inventory last year, something quite a few retailers did, and as far as I know have not brought Pentax back.
The folks at Penn are pretty smart. If they recognize significant demand they will stock a brand. Additionally they are going to see this summer, I hope, renewed efforts from a much smarter Pentax staff to bring more retailers back. However nothing speaks louder to a retailer than a customer base who is asking for something that they don't have. If your local store is not carrying Pentax, stop in and ask them how long Pentax has to be in business before they accept that Pentax is not going out of business. Pentax started year three under Hoya and the signs are they are getting stronger.
BTW my name is also Dave...