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B&H Expanding Its Physical Footprint

logan2z

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I missed this when it made the local NYC news last month...

B&H Photo Buys Former Sam Ash Space and Office Building at Discount

Photography giant B&H is expanding its footprint at the corner of Hell’s Kitchen with the $150 million purchase of 333 W34th Street — a 10-story office building whose retail space was most recently home to Sam Ash Music. The acquisition was at a major discount, which has become typical in recent...
w42st.com
 
Yes, retail space and other commercial property in NYC is selling at a deep discount, maybe 30%. But it's difficult to imagine a bigger B&H. And BTW, no one knows what they gross, it's all private. Some put it at over $1 billion annually. I can bet they know what they are doing.
 
Bold move in today's economic climate. I am guessing a significantly large number of the items B&H sells are made in China(?) Current ongoing events may or may not make Chinese manufactured goods more expensive or less available(?)

{Moderator's note - need to restrain the political content - as it isn't in accord with Photrio rules}
 
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runswithsizzers said:
Bold move in today's economic climate. I am guessing a significantly large number of the items B&H sells are made in China(?) Current ongoing events may or may not make Chinese manufactured goods more expensive or less available(?) ******
Click to expand...

Commercial real estate in a downturn is a good investment..particularly when the location fits..non?
 
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  • F4U
  • Deleted
  • Reason: raising the stakes on the politics
I suspect they have the business to support this. I've been to their site in NYC twice and it was busy both times. That said, they sell a lot of products beyond photography. I've purchased a number of non-photographic printers as well as rifle scopes from them. Nice thing...their shipping rivals Amazon to my home here in VA. Pricing is competitive as well.

Chris
 
I’ve come to like B&H; they’ve consistently supported film shooting by stocking the films and chemistry I needed and with their programming in the event space. Whenever I’m in the city I go there, if only to go to the used-camera desk and drool.
 
I use B&H and even got their credit card for large purchases recently. It is nice to see a camera store expanding these days.
 
Now I'm wondering what happened to Sam Ash, another New York institution.
 
Arthurwg said:
Now I'm wondering what happened to Sam Ash, another New York institution.
Click to expand...

Apparently they filed for bankruptcy last year. All the physical locations closed. Gohner Music from Mexico bought the company and operates as online sales only.
 
Maybe they’re coming out with their own line of film stock
 
In the 1990s, the B&H storefront was a relatively modest-size space on I think 17th St just off 6th Av (this area was considered the Photo District then). IIRC, they had stuff like darkroom supplies, paper, chemicals out on display that you could just pick up and take to checkout, and some glass cases with equipment, but for most of their equipment stock you went to the counter and asked a clerk about it, and someone would fetch the item down from their storage/warehouse area to the front for you to look at. They didn't have the narrow-storefront-with-long-glass-cases look of what I think of as an old line photo store (like say Willoughby's, which I think I was taken to once as a child).

In the late 1990s B&H moved and opened the superstore, which was more like a contemporary electronics store in its layout, spacious and let you walk around and gawk at things. I didn't have the money to spend on a lot of stuff, and also left the NY/NJ area soon after, so never actually spent much time at that store. They have been very successful in growing and surviving retail trends all this time, in part (IMHO) due to customer service.
 
A bit off-topic. I was watching Zero Day on Netflix. It takes place in Washington D.C., and one of the characters opens a shopping bag from B&H Photo with a radio inside. To my knowledge, there is no B&H in the area. Product (well, branding) placement! Plus, the radio isn't even one B&H carries.

 
I recently got more money for a lens than KEH offered. Just one data point. I have used their credit card and saved the California sales tax on a Mac Pro Tower.
 
I have used B&H long before I got serious into photography. I used them to order quite a bit of audio gear. Imaging was an offshoot of those pursuits and then led into the sole pursuit. Glad to hear they are doing well.
 
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