Camera Retailers are an endangered species

Brick and mortar camera stores are quickly disappearing. Adolph Gassers in San Francisco closed up shop in March 2017 after 67 years in business.  Showcase Cameras in Atlanta, Georgia close up shop in Feb 2017 after 40 years in business. Keeble and Shuchat in Palo Alto closed its doors in October 2016 after 51 years in business. Ritz and Wolfe are effectively gone. Two stores and an online presence. Why? A good article from petapixel Another Big Camera Store Fails: Why Are So Many Closing? explains why. However, I would add:

1. “An uneven playing field” I agree that sales tax is a huge reason why brick and mortars lose sales to online retailers, but I would still buy from Amazon and pay tax over buying at a brick and mortar. Why? The convenience of shopping online and having the product delivered to my door and the generous return policy. The price including tax is also cheaper than a local camera store so sales tax is not the only issue. Convenience, return policy, and cheaper prices push me to Amazon and bandh over a local or not so local brick and mortar. The closest one to me now is San Jose Camera a good half hours drive. Not sure they’ll be around much longer. How good is the return policy? I bought an F5 from bandh, tried it out. Hated it since it was so heavy. Returned it. They charged me shipping and I thought that was fair. Amazon doesn’t even charge for shipping. Why go to a brick and mortar?
2. “Information boom” Sure, this is a big reason. I no longer need the advice of a salesperson who has a vested interest in selling me whatever he has in stock anyways. This instantly accessible information is a good thing all the way around.
3. Bestbuy. If you need it today, best buy probably has it and is closer than a camera store.
4. Costco. Costco sells Canon and Nikon kits. With their generous return policy, price, and convenience why would I go to a brick and mortar camera store? Back in the film days, I went to Costco for all my photofinishing. It was about $15 for a roll of 36 to develop and print. It was cheap, convenient, and as high quality as the other places. In the digital age, I go to Costco for all my printing. It’s cheap, convenient, and as high quality or even better than other places. Drycreekphoto has a printer profile for all the Costcos so color management is much easier. I get the results I want. What I see on my monitor and photoshop is what comes out of their printer. On Feb 14, 2021 all Costco photo centers closed so now they only do printing at a central location. I also noticed they don’t sell Nikon or Canon camera kits anymore.

If costco, Amazon, and bandh sell a product that your store relies on for a good percentage of your sales, I would figure something else out and quickly. The return policy, price, and service will be too hard to match so customers will shop at one of these three stores and not yours.

The future doesn’t look bright for brick and mortar camera stores. Technology is one of the main reasons. To be successful, I would recommend opening up a store in a state like Oregon that has no state sales tax. Offer your customers the convenience, price, and return policy of Amazon prime and something that they can’t get from Amazon. Otherwise, there’s no point in having a camera store.

What does this mean for the camera and lens buying photographer? Not much. I bought my first camera a Nikon EM at Adolph Gassers in San Francisco back in 1982, but haven’t bought a camera in a camera store since 1999. It was a Nikon Pronea S. I could have got it mail order, but the price at San Jose Camera wasn’t all that much more than mail order so I bought it on my lunch hour.

Where should you buy a camera from then? Online at Amazon, bandhphotovideo, or Adorama. The best deal is directly from the manufacturer refurbished since it’s indistinquishable from new and has a 1 year warranty. For brick and mortar stores costco or best buy. Used from craigslist or eBay.