I think to say the Internet had won is wrong. Several photo stores the likes of B&H, Adorama, and others have been very successful both as store fronts and online sales. Ritz store prices were high, service tended to be poor, and they offered limited products. That and just poor management is why they went under. Let's not give the Internet all the credit.
Mickey wrote:
... Let's not give the Internet all the credit.
Amen to that. Bad management had as big a hand as anything else. Still, it's sad to see the only camera store in town close its' doors. The guy that ran the store here only found out about it when UPS delivered the big yellow closing signs for his front windows. Talk about a cold shot.
Internet shopping is really good for buyers, but it's really bad for business in overall. It's not really surprising to see local businesses go away, while enterprises grow bigger and bigger.
Believe it or not? Internet tax is really a good thing, even though as a shopper myself I kinda hate paying more.
Well, I think we can give the Internet credit for shutting down Ritz/Wolf Camera, Borders, Towers Records, and other types of brick-and-mortar stores who have been making it by marking up significantly from wholesale prices. The Internet, combined with shipping logistics, allows buyers from all around the country to buy from a few shops who can get the best pricing and are willing to pass such pricing to the consumers.
It remains to be seen whether this is good for the US/global economy in the long run. One can make an argument for pro or con to our daily lives.
We all can agree that the internet plays an important role in the success of a business. Wolf/Ritz Cameras have always been overpriced. The staff in the 2 stores near where I live were never helpful and needed training in customer service. Good Luck to them!
The Ritz/Wolf model is different from centralized retailers like B & H and Adorama. R-W was a matter of many, many small stores scattered among the hills and malls of the country. Its demise and that of similar chains is an illustration of how internet commerce is changing the way we do business. The recession we've been undergoing may be the product of reckless disregard on the part of the financial sector (bankers gone wild), but the coming of wholesale (in the sense of the quantity of transactions, not prices) internet commerce is a factor in our slow jobs recovery. We'll still go to the mall, but not for all the same reasons.
pjbishop wrote:
R-W was a matter of many, many small stores scattered among the hills and malls of the country. Its demise and that of similar chains is an illustration of how internet commerce is changing the way we do business.
I'm no economist but I do not think Ritz's trouble is the result of the internet. I think they couldn't support the debt they accrued, didn't earn customer loyalty with service and lacked breadth in their brands and overall product scope. YMMV.
I'm a photographer in Naples, Florida and sent a client into the "new" Ritz last year who was leaving on a cruise the next day and had lost their camera and needed a new one right now as they were leaving in the morning. They noticed that there were no Canon cameras in the store, just other brands and asked the salesman why and the guy told them that they quit carrying Canon because they were so bad that people kept returning them and that their warranty was terrible. I told them that the true story was that when Ritz went bust the first time Canon refused them any credit till they paid off the old debt from when they stuck Canon. So they were bad mouthing the camera brand because they couldn't get any. I lent them a point and shoot for their cruise and when they got back they got a new one from B&H. Always good service and good people Henry.
henryp wrote:
I'm no economist but I do not think Ritz's trouble is the result of the internet. I think they couldn't support the debt they accrued, didn't earn customer loyalty with service and lacked breadth in their brands and overall product scope. YMMV.
You're right, of course, about the management basis for the decline Ritz/Wolf's business, which had been anticipated for some years now. But I think what I wrote is valid about the overall picture. In general, cookie-cutter stores like Ritz/Wolf with, as you said, a limited range of brands, etc., and which don't have special services or local relevance, are in trouble. We're having a economic paradigm change in which internet commerce and global sourcing are factors among others. Some of the jobs in this sector are simply not coming back I'm not decrying internet commerce - I'm a fan and customer of B & H. Long may it prosper!
I guess I'll take the side the internet was a massive blow to them. Everytime I needed a lens, I went to Wolf first. Then I realized said lens is usually 30% more expensive, plus tax. I'd go home, order it with over night and still have it be cheaper.
Mickey wrote:
I think to say the Internet had won is wrong. Several photo stores the likes of B&H, Adorama, and others have been very successful both as store fronts and online sales. Ritz store prices were high, service tended to be poor, and they offered limited products. That and just poor management is why they went under. Let's not give the Internet all the credit.
Exactly. If B&H and Adorama had Ritz pricing, they'd go out of business quickly too.
BenV wrote:
I guess I'll take the side the internet was a massive blow to them. Everytime I needed a lens, I went to Wolf first. Then I realized said lens is usually 30% more expensive, plus tax. I'd go home, order it with over night and still have it be cheaper.
