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 p.6 #16 · The death of the local camera store | |
B&H does GREAT business. They pay attention to the details.
Their store in NYC is one of the most sophisticated retail stores of any type that I've ever seen. It was just thoroughly remodeled within the last year. Built inside of the display counters are networks of very cool conveyer belt systems that deliver goods directly to the retail sales person.
With the evolutionary improvements to the store, the website, and the mail order warehouse, it is very evident that B&H is reinvesting their profits from the digital revolution back into their operations... which makes our lives easier.
I've seen B&H sourcebooks in every local retail camera store that has gone out of business, as well as the few that remain in business. No one else had a catalog as comprehensive across all product lines as B&H. And no one made or forced B&H to come up with this industry reference. They just did it, presumably to serve customers, which in turn made them more successful.
B&H deserves the success they have acheived.
That being said, competition is good for everyone, and as good as B&H is, there is always room to grow in the realm of improvement, and competition fosters that quicker than any other growth remedy.
There are still a few professionally oriented retail/distributors scattered throughout the country to choose from. Two major independents in particular are very supportive of professional photojournalists and sports photographers...
Robert's Imaging (aka Robert's Distributing) in Indiananapolis
Samy's Camera in Los Angeles
These stores are local to some... not so local for others, but still have a local feel by virtue of the fact that their volumes are not as large and the people you talk to tend to be the same year over year. Despite the lower volume, their pricing can be surprisingly competitive, even beating B&H on select items... like lenses for example.
When the Canon Mark IIn came out, it initially sold for between $4,200 to $4,500. The dealer cost on the camera was $3,200. (Source: a very local camera store employee inadvertently read the wrong data colunm to me while taking my order. The price seemed unbelievably low for a waiting list camera, so I questioned him. He checked again, and said OOPS. He wasn't too bright. Probably one of those high school kids HenryP was referring to. And so another local store bites the dust?)
Anyway, essentially most retailers grossed a grand for every fervent sale. The price eventually settled to $3,999 at B&H and held for along time. $800 per sale, but with B&H's buying power, they presumably paid less than $3,200. Of interest however, is at the end of the Mark IIn's life, near the dawn of the Mark III, B&H was selling the Mark IIn for around $3,400, more or less.
Therefore, it wasn't until the time when the Mark IIn's were being discontinued that the margin between dealer cost and retail sale approached the $200 range projected by another poster. At all other times, it appeared to be 4 to 5 times higher. ($800 - $1,000 gross per body, on the higher end when newly introduced.)
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