Ritz Camera filed Chapter 11 today. tb

--
OROGARD
http://picasaweb.google.com/orogard

Here's a link to PDN story about the filing-

http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/02/ritz-camera-files-for-bankruptcy.html

Hopefully they are successful in reorganizing. I don't think Sony will be as affected as some other brands. However, it does limit the places where we can buy Sony Alpha products. It is a good thing Sony has their own stores, even if we're forced to pay the retail set by Sony.

Maybe I'm insensitive, but I hope they disappear for good.

The local Ritz store here -Inkleys- is the sorriest excuse for a photography/camera store I've ever seen. I've had them lose 120 negatives twice, all they did was shrug their shoulders. I went there with my mother once to help her pick out a P&S for mothers day, and the salesman lied straight to her about a cameras features. A different salesman lied to my face once. Last time I went in was because I needed some faster 120 film in a pinch, guess what, they don't even sell 120 film, and takes 2 weeks to get it processed. They only had 2 cheapo tripods in the store and no monopods. They had very few cameras, fewer lenses, no flashguns and half the store was frames and scrapbooking supplies.

I hate 'em, I hope they fail and a real camera store takes their place.

Go Capitalism!!!!
--
http://www.kirksagers.com

Ritz Camera Sucks! Terrible service.. and dont know a thing!.. i called a few times back when the a700 was first released to see if they had one i could try out... put me on hold for 14 minutes... then they said.. we dont have the a700 we have the new a100.. lol

LIke any retail store, they have had some trouble in the new economy. They have to cut costs to compete with online retailers, and that usually means cutting employee pay. Which, of course, results in a larger number of uninformed, lower skilled people working there. Not to say that all are like that, but they (and Best Buy, and several others) have that problem these days.

My local store has been great. They don't carry a lot of Sony products, but I have been pleased with their prices and service for making prints and buying things like filters, bags, and memory cards. In my area, I have found them the best with quality enlargements, and I enjoy being able to upload them via my PC and pick them up same day.

I hope to see them continue to do well. My experience has always been positive with them, and I hope the new economy has a place for a camera retailer to still prosper with B&M stores.
--
yakkosmurf
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yakkosmurf/

--

I have always found the staff at the downtown Seattle store to be the very best! Very helpful and experts in camera tech. I hope they can recover.
J

The store nearest me is not the best stocked store around, but the staff has always been friendly, honest and reasonably knowledgable.

They have never tried to mislead me.

--



In god we trust, all others are suspects

I find them to be a bit hit and miss. Some are clearly targeted for the P&S world while others are more robust. I don't know anything about their corporate structure, but I wonder if they are a mix of corporate owned and franchised stores. The bottom line is like them or not they do provide some competition and here in Dallas we don't have the options New Yorkers have so I might stop by my local Ritz and buy something just to help support them.
--
Carl Zeiss taste...Beercan budget!

--

". I went there with my mother once to help her pick out a P&S for mothers day, and the salesman lied straight to her about a cameras features"

I don't know if it was lying as much as ignorance. In the US retail sector it is rare to find experts especially at places that pay $11 an hour. The same people who are selling cameras at Ritz would be selling shirts at the gap or stoves at Sears had those places offered them the job first. It stinks but thats the way things are now.

--
Ritz going under doesn't break my heart !!