Originally posted by creampuff
Could some Pentax users in NY post some photos of the interior and exterior so that tourists not from NY and for the benefit of everyone else, know how the place looks like?
I only work about three blocks away from Willoughby's, and my office is closing early tomorrow, so I'll try to snap a few shots.
Originally posted by MRRiley
By all accounts, all this new "boutique shop" is is a counter at the front of the store. When I read the phrase "Pentax shop" I think of something akin to the Apple Store... not just a counter shared with Leica that MAYBE has a dedicated salesman.
Don't get me wrong... I think any presence in a B&M store is great and hopefully is a sign that intelligence and consumer understanding has finally prevailed at Pentax marketing, but blowing it up and trying to glamourize it by calling it a boutique is disingenuous.
Just get gear back in the stores where people can touch and feel it... make them worth the stores carrying them andconvince the salesmen that they are every bit as good and often much better than any similarly priced competitor.
Mike
Yes, it's certainly not a new Pentax "store" or "boutique." It's a big display in a a foyer type of area in the front of the store. The have a few cameras and a bunch of lenses behind glass, and a bunch of K-x bodies in different colors out for people to touch. On each side of the display case, there are two flat screens that run "Uncle Jack" and other Pentax footage on loop. There weren't any salespeople hanging out in that area when I stopped in this week.
Originally posted by FullertonImages
Ding ding ding. I agree. I see this progressing into the beginning stages of a good pro support system. It's no coincidence that it's in Manhattan. Sure there's the consumer part of it. Manhattan is a good place to sell cameras. Lots of people and lots of technology lovers. But what's really going on in NYC is the biggest concentration of pro shooters. Especially the high end, studio/commercial shooters who are likely to be all over MF anyways. But any high end shooter won't touch a camera if they can't get support, spare parts, and pro rentals/repair down the street. No pro would touch a camera that's nearest support was Japan, or even Golden, CO. No matter how good and affordable it was. I hope this is one of the ways they're going with it.
And TOURISTS! Don't forget, Willoughby's is right by the Empire State Building, and the area is crawling with tourists.