A new list of Authorized dealers was posted to the US Ricoh Imaging website.
https://us.ricoh-imaging.com/images/Ricoh Imaging_Authorized Dealer List.pdf
Unfortunately, the listing is just a PDF with the dealer's name - no other identifying information. You can use the web map interface at
Authorized Ricoh Imaging Americas Dealers but this only lets you search by location, not dealer name.
I've gone through the
entire list of names on the PDF of authorized dealers, dated Sept 4, 2018 and compiled the results into a Google spreadsheet:
Ricoh Imaging US Authorized Dealers
I wanted to see how Ricoh Imaging's authorized dealers represent Pentax products.
The results are not encouraging.
First off, I can't believe I had to do this - the official Ricoh list of authorized dealers JUST lists the name of the dealer with no other information. Several of the names are so generic as to be meaningless - "Camera Shop" and "Camera Center" for example. It also gives no clue as to the types of products these dealers carry.
Of the 130 names listed, a full 12 dealers (9%) are no longer in business.
Of the remaining, only 31 dealer websites give ANY indication that they even carry Pentax products.
Several of the listed dealers have websites, but do not have an online store or listing of products. Some are mainly digital printing and imaging businesses, and retail photographic equipment is not a major component of their business.
Of those that do list their products, only 27 listed ANY K-mount cameras or lenses. 17 listed the 645z as a product.
13 dealers listed only Pentax sport optics, such as binoculars, spotting scopes or telescope eyepieces. These are mostly birding or telescope-related dealers who do not carry products for general photography. A small number are outdoor sporting goods stores or travel clothing stores, and do not carry photography related products.
There are about 10 gun stores listed, perhaps because they carry sport optics or used to carry Pentax scopes.
There are many dealers that are listed as an "authorized dealer" who give NO indication of carrying ANY Pentax products at all. This should be a requirement of being an authorized dealer - there should be *some* indication on the dealer's website that they are selling your product.
There were a few dealers that indicated they carry Pentax products, but who return zero results when searching for Pentax products.
I gave each store a subjective score from 0 to 5. I gave points for:
1 having ANY mention of Pentax as a brand or showing a Pentax logo
1 for listing Pentax cameras
1 for listing Pentax lenses
1 for having current products (e.g. K-1 ii, KP, K70)
1 for NOT having obsolete products listed (e.g. if the site listed K-30 cameras)
(Of course, scores would change if a dealer added or removed products from their website.)
A zero essentially means there is NO indication of the dealer selling any Pentax products - if a customer went to the website, there is NOTHING to suggest they might be able to purchase Pentax cameras, lenses, or even binoculars there.
A score of 1 generally indicates the dealer either lists Pentax as a brand but has no products, or they carry just the Ricoh Theta, or maybe Pentax binoculars.
A score of 2 means the dealer has some oddball assortment of Pentax products, like a K-S1 and a D-BG6 grip. Dealers that list kit bundles of long discontinued products, or obsolete products at their full list price. If it looked like the dealer really wasn't interested in having Pentax products, they get a 2.
Dealers with 3 or 4 have a mix of Pentax products, but still list some discontinued products, or are missing current products such as the K-1 ii or KP cameras. If I felt the dealer was at least trying to represent Pentax products well, they might get nudged to a 4. Dealers with meagre selections of Pentax products, or who list discontinued products at full MSRP would get a 3.
There were only two dealers who rated a 5: Adorama and B & H Photo. Both carry the widest selection of Pentax products, and have prominently featured new Pentax releases such as the K-1 ii. They both make it easy to find Pentax products, and are constantly adjusting prices to be competitive.
Top dealers:
Adorama B&H Photo Arlington Camera Berger Bros. Cameta Camera Kenmore Camera LensRentals (carries good selection of Pentax products to rent, option to buy)
Optics Planet (surprising selection of Pentax photo products)
Samy's Camera The Camera Box Tri-State Camera Almost there:
Focus Camera (lists K-1 ii and D-FA* 50mm, but small selection otherwise)
Hunts Photo and Video (lists current products, but almost all are 'backordered')
Ace Photo and
Dominion Camera (need to remove obsolete products, most products "out of stock")
Notes on methods:
For each name listed on the official Ricoh Imaging US Authorized Dealers list, I visited the dealer's website (if any) and noted the presence of Pentax and Ricoh Imaging products.
Listed dealer name - This is the name as printed in the official Ricoh authorized dealer list.
Alternate name - Many of the names listed by Ricoh do not match the name used by the dealer.
For dealers with more than one location, I listed the location and phone number that seemed to be the primary location.
Online store means a way to browse and purchase products online.
Pentax branding means is there ANY indication that the dealer carries Pentax products, such as a Pentax logo or even "We carry brands such as Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony". Is Pentax listed on their "Shop by brand page"?
Online store listings are likely to vary over time, even day to day, so this is just meant as a snapshot of what Pentax products were listed on the dealer's website at the time.
K-mount Cameras - what Pentax K-mount cameras were listed?
Med Format - did the dealer list Pentax medium format cameras?
Other - Were there any other Ricoh Imaging products listed, such as Theta cameras or Pentax binoculars?
Lenses - What types of Pentax-branded lenses were listed on the website? This isn't a count of how many lenses were listed, just the type (at least one example). This is most likely to fluctuate over time.
Score - Subjective score based on criteria above. Mostly an estimate for 'how well does this dealer represent Pentax products online"?
This list of dealers is subject to change. Inventory (and therefore scores) will certainly change. However, past trends have shown some authorized dealers who used to have Pentax products listed on their website now no longer list any Pentax products.
Let me know if this is useful, or if there are corrections/additions to be made.
Thanks,
Mike