Calumet photo vanishes in the US

pbromaghin · Mar 18, 2014

Yesterday, after arriving home from purchasing my spring supply of film at Denver ProPhoto, I felt a bit stupid to have paid about 20% more than B&H and Freestyle prices. But after revisiting this thread I feel a lot better. Every time I go in there they have somebody who can answer just about any stupid question. Where else could I go to talk to somebody about buying C41 Part C developer in powder form separately from Parts A and B?

Now there's only one place like that left in Chicago...

Thomas Bertilsson · Mar 18, 2014

pbromaghin said:
Yesterday, after arriving home from purchasing my spring supply of film at Denver ProPhoto, I felt a bit stupid to have paid about 20% more than B&H and Freestyle prices. But after revisiting this thread I feel a lot better. Every time I go in there they have somebody who can answer just about any stupid question. Where else could I go to talk to somebody about buying C41 Part C developer in powder form separately from Parts A and B?

Now there's only one place like that left in Chicago...

That's a great attitude to have. I too try to support the local businesses first, even though they cost more. We are very fortunate in Minneapolis to have West Photo who tries to support film and darkroom. At any given time I can purchase most Ilford photo paper, chemicals from Ilford, Kodak, Sprint, and Edwal, negative sleeves, archival binders, film from all the big names (although Fuji's distribution sucks and they have virtually no Fuji film in stock), and so on.
If we want those businesses to survive, we have to support them.

Chris Lange · Mar 18, 2014

Crap now where am I supposed to get film on Saturday...

Fotocare I guess.

c6h6o3 · Mar 20, 2014

There's only Dead Link Removed, and judging from their website, one has to wonder how long they'll last. However, Dick has always catered to pros by specializing in superlative factory authorized repairs of high end equipment, so maybe the last man standing in this town will stand for quite a while.

The bad news is that there's not a single word on his website about film. Not a single word.

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2014

c6h6o3 said:
There's only Dead Link Removed, and judging from their website, one has to wonder how long they'll last. However, Dick has always catered to pros by specializing in superlative factory authorized repairs of high end equipment, so maybe the last man standing in this town will stand for quite a while.

The bad news is that there's not a single word on his website about film. Not a single word.

So he is the Only Juan?

c6h6o3 · Mar 20, 2014

Sirius Glass said:
So he is the Only Juan?

Sí

TheToadMen · Apr 3, 2014

new photo store in Chicago?

A message was posted on on the alt.photo list. It seems the British branch of Calumet is reviving a version of Calumet in the US.

"CalPhotoUS is a small start up based in Chicago with decades of photo
experience to supply you with the gear you want and the answers you need.
We are beginning to stock from the top Vendors and have Nikon at the ready.
We can ship to any location in the US and are looking to open a store
location in the Chicagoland area very soon.
Check us at Dead Link Removed - updates as we continue to grow.
Thanks for your support!"

TheFlyingCamera · Apr 3, 2014

That's terrific news. I do hope they continue to carry certain product lines, like the Brilliant papers and the Bowens lighting gear, that the old Calumet distributed.

BrianShaw · Apr 3, 2014

Good news... but is this really the British Calumet re-starting a US operation, or 3 smart guys starting a new business? Either way I'm happy if they have good product and good prices and good service, but it sounds more like the latter to me than the former.

Ian Grant · Apr 3, 2014

BrianShaw said:
Good news... but is this really the British Calumet re-starting a US operation, or 3 smart guys starting a new business? Either way I'm happy if they have good product and good prices and good service, but it sounds more like the latter to me than the former.

They are probably linked by the three owners being involved with both companies. In the UK/U a number of companies merged finally coming under the Claumet banner in more recent years. Calumet may well have been more profitable in the UK than the US as they are a much bigger player in the professional market this side of the Atlantic hover they are very heavily biased towards digital and I stopped using them a few years ago as they no longer carried the films and papers I used.

Ian

fotch · Apr 3, 2014

I wish them sucess.

TheToadMen · Apr 3, 2014

(Removed double post, sorry)

TheToadMen · Apr 3, 2014

(Something weird is going on. I post elsewhere but it pops up here. Ipad with Tapatalk is fine for reading, but not posting!? So, removed again....)

## if a moderator could remove these two faulty posts completely please? Thank you! ##

DF · Apr 14, 2014

Why the big surprise? Their merchandise was the same as Best Buy's - Target - Walmart - etc.
They used to be a photography store.

Trask · Apr 14, 2014

c6h6o3 said:
There's only Dead Link Removed, and judging from their website, one has to wonder how long they'll last. However, Dick has always catered to pros by specializing in superlative factory authorized repairs of high end equipment, so maybe the last man standing in this town will stand for quite a while.

The bad news is that there's not a single word on his website about film. Not a single word.

ProPhoto's website still says they're moving, when in fact they moved about nine months ago. I've dropped into the new place several times -- once to drop of a Nikon F for a CLA -- and it is very, very much smaller than his old place. He still has some used gear, still sells Leica, and apparently still repairs equipment though Dick and brother (whom I haven't seen for a while) work out of sight of the public now. I mentioned to Dick that he had a lot less stuff on the sales floor (no paper or developers, etc.) and his reply rather indicated that they'd gotten rid of most of it (though some may be "in the back").

I'm glad they're still there, as I've been shopping there for over twenty years, but the store clearly reflects how photography equipment is presently valued and sold.

Oren Grad · May 5, 2014

C&A Marketing Acquires Calumet Photographic at Bankruptcy Auction

http://camarketing.com/ca-marketing-acquires-calumet-photographic/

Ken Nadvornick · May 5, 2014

That's really very interesting. Thanks for the link...

Ken

Dr Croubie · May 5, 2014

I'm still wondering what happened to all the poor guys who had cameras sent in for CLA or repair, did they ever get them back?

Prof_Pixel · May 7, 2014

Maybe it's coming back. See http://www.businesswire.com/news/njcom/20140507006414/en C&A Marketing Will Reopen Calumet Photographic’s Oak Brook Location Sunday May 11

Try http://bit.ly/1fQgVjA

drielim · May 9, 2014

Prof_Pixel, that is great to hear. It would be interesting though to see what C&A would do to the brand itself, I would be curious to see how they would use it to their advantage. I think this is a good move for C&A though.

Calumet photo vanishes in the US

Membership Council

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency