[Big I]

I never buy from there. Jacked up prices, unimpressive website, and hardly any pentax gear.

B&H, Pentaxforums.com, ebay, and Adorama are the only places I buy from. In that order.

[Slick]

I bought the Pentax 18-250 from Ritz only because I was in a hurry. I also bought a Manfrotto tripod head there that was actually cheaper than B&H. Sometimes you can find deals at Ritz.

Other than that I'll get small stuff there only.

[cardinal43]

I assume he's the manager, he's certainly the most knowledgable there

LOL, wouldn't bet the mortgage on the fact that the most knowledgable is the manager.

BTW, do you shop at the one in Manassas Mall or the new one in Gainesville?

I bought my K100D Labor Day weekend last year from Ritz. I was happy with the service, and the young lady that waited on me knew a lot about Pentax, even though she was a Nikon shooter. She asked me quite a few questions about what I was interested in, and she never tried to steer me to another brand. Her comment basically was...."buy what you think you will be happy with", and I did.

[mel]

LOL, wouldn't bet the mortgage on the fact that the most knowledgable is the manager.

BTW, do you shop at the one in Manassas Mall or the new one in Gainesville?

I bought my K100D Labor Day weekend last year from Ritz. I was happy with the service, and the young lady that waited on me knew a lot about Pentax, even though she was a Nikon shooter. She asked me quite a few questions about what I was interested in, and she never tried to steer me to another brand. Her comment basically was...."buy what you think you will be happy with", and I did.

There's a new one in Gainesville? Where? Is it in that area by that new BestBuy?

I'm talking about the one inside the mall at Potomac Mills. The library I work at is close to there so I run in before or after work sometimes. He was a former Nikon person but switched to Pentax as he liked what the K10D had to offer over the Nikon equivalent.

I think that in terms of service and attitude in these kinds of stores it's going to vary with the location. You can't really say service at all Ritz stores sucks as each one is staffed by different people. Yeah the prices are high but the staff isn't in control of that.

[cardinal43]

@Mel

I wasn't aware that there was a Ritz at Potomac Mills. I don't think I have been in the mall in at least 3 years. Too crowded and too many store changings.

There is a new Ritz in the same shopping center as Best Buy. It is on the side where Paneras, Lazy Boy, and Uno's is located. It is actually across the street from Paneras. You get to it by coming in off of Linton Hall Road, and it will be on your left.

I agree with you that the level of expertise differs store by store. I was happy with my purchase from the Fair Lakes Ritz store. I also like the Penn Camera store in Fair Lakes shopping center. That's where I bought my tripod and ball head.

[reeftool]

The local Ritz (Saratoga,NY) is a good shop with very helpfull folks who work there. I bought my K10D there (on sale and got a Sigma 70-300 free) some other things also. The prices aren't always the best but it's the only camera store around for many miles. Any store is only as good as the people who work there and I guess we're lucky because we have a good one.

[cromagnonrand]

Every since Chuck Wolf sold out to Ritz, the stores seem more like Radioshack to me. You know, walk in, ask for something and the clueless teenager looks at you with complete confusion.

However, I must admit, having a relative in there makes it very hard to NOT to go to Ritz or Wolf. Besides, this relative has informed me that all I have to do is ask and they will order for me.

By the way, I stopped talking to most of the individuals who work there, except my relative and one other.

[SpecialK]

Camera bags. I have to shop those in person.

[res3567]

Actually, I tried to purchase my first *ist DS from Ritz in Palm Springs. The person across the counter was a young male, looking like he was just at legal age to work. He proceeded to tell me that they didn't have any in stock. I said okay, I would like to order one. He then said that they didn't order from Pentax anymore and that Pentax was out of business. Everybody that is serious about photography only buys Nikon or Canon. I replied that they weren't out of business and that since they had other Pentax products in the store, I insisted that they order one for me. He continue to make fun of me to the other sales people and then he got to see what king of temper I have. Lucky for him that I didn't jump across the counter. Needless to say that I didn't order the camera, but I did call the store manager the next day. I went there about a week later and saw new faces there. I asked if John was working today. They didn't know me and proceeded to tell me that John had been laid off.

Morale of the story: Be nice to your clients, and if your not, someone else will. In my case Cameta Camera of New Yokk got my order.

I went to a Wolf store to look at the new Pentax K100D, and to see if they had any more deals on discontinued filters a while back. Yes, if a product is disco'd and you can use it, it may be resonably priced at these stores. I did buy a filter like this prior from another Wolf Camera. A customer came in looking to buy a new D-SLR. The guy behind the counter immediately recomended Nikon. He said Nikon "was the absolute best, period." I began to get angry and I was tempted to tell the customer "just because this guy loves Nikon does not neccessarily mean it is the right camera for you." Seeing a pontential argument developing that could have turned into a shouting match between me and the clerk, I walked out.

[clawhammer]

In my experience working at a Ritz, you get a mixed bag of knowledge. Sometimes you'll run into hard-core photographers who know it's more about the photographer than the equipment (often these are the guys (or gals) doing the printing). Other times you'll find the pixel-peepers, who switch favorite cameras every two or three months as new models come out. There are also professional salespeople there, who's job is to sell cameras, not necessarily know photography (though some do). Then there is inevitably the new fresh-out-of-highschool type who, depending on who ends up mentoring him, could end up being a pretty good photographer, or a professional salesperson.

As for shopping there, my local ritz doesn't carry much that I want (usually a k200, 55-300, and if I'm lucky a 18-250), but I will occasionally make prints there to have an excuse to go talk cameras for an hour with some of my friends who still work there. There's an 'Ultra' store in town that usually has a DA* or two, but I rarely go there.

One thing to remember about Ritz: They make little/no money on cameras and lenses. The margins on these items are close to nonexistent. Their real money-makers are printing and accessories.

Depending on the manager and the lab tech, Ritz can almost be a pro-level lab. If you find a lab tech who's willing to take time to go over images with you and tweak color or exposure to your taste, they're really helpful. 'course, now that they've started the one-hour-or-its-free thing, I doubt many of them have that sort of time anymore. Man, I'm glad I'm not running the printer there anymore.