looks like Ritz is officially done

[bob100684]

http://www.twice.com/article/307726-Ritz_Camera_For_Sale.php

 

[Sirius Glass]

I read the article. With all the stuff they did with boaters, I can see why they are under water!

Steve

 

[Jeff Kubach]

I hate to see that happen to another photo place but they brought on to themselves.

Jeff

 

[Sirius Glass]

I hate to see that happen to another photo place but they brought on to themselves.

Jeff

I was always treated well at Ritz, but they jumped on the digital band wagon and forgot that people who use film come back to buy more, and that digital users* typically will run to the big box store that has cheapest price.

Steve

* not all digital users

 

[brofkand]

Unless there is a very pressing need for a roll of film I can't get anywhere else except via mail order, I don't go into a Ritz store.

I don't let my stock get so low to where I can't wait a week for another shipment from Freestyle to come in. I get Arista Premium film for $2 a roll. Even if Ritz had a house brand B&W film, I doubt they could sell it for that price.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Unless there is a very pressing need for a roll of film I can't get anywhere else except via mail order, I don't go into a Ritz store.

Most of my experience with Ritz was when I was working in Rochester for you know whom and Ritz was dumping their film at give away prices. I hit a number of Ritz stores buying up the film to keep the film from the film hoarders.

Steve

 

[fotch]

Most of my experience with Ritz was when I was working in Rochester for you know whom and Ritz was dumping their film at give away prices. I hit a number of Ritz stores buying up the film to keep the film from the film hoarders.

Steve

So you were hoarding yourself?

 

[bob100684]

I think Ritz's big problem was overexpansion, and not enough supervision of employees. I personally worked at two different locations. One was an "ultra" store, we had just about everything, a very experienced staff, and loyal customers. The other was a mall store, though not all mall stores are bad, this one had a manager who stole things from the store, an assistant manager who I once caught sleeping on the floor. Machines weren't taken care of, sales were low. Part of the problem though wasn't even the staff....whoever decided to open a ritz three storefronts away from a best buy deserves some of the blame too.

 

[alanrockwood]

I wonder if Inkley's will be spun off as a separate company or sold in this process.

 

[alanrockwood]

... With all the stuff they did with boaters, I can see why they are under water!

Steve

That's funny.

 

[aldevo]

There's still a chance the business could be sold and continue to operate, but I doubt it...

A more important question becomes - what about Nikon USA? I understood that they were an unsecured creditor to the tune of about $26.6 million when Ritz filed Chapter 11.

 

[aldevo]

I think Ritz's big problem was overexpansion, and not enough supervision of employees. I personally worked at two different locations. One was an "ultra" store, we had just about everything, a very experienced staff, and loyal customers. The other was a mall store, though not all mall stores are bad, this one had a manager who stole things from the store, an assistant manager who I once caught sleeping on the floor. Machines weren't taken care of, sales were low. Part of the problem though wasn't even the staff....whoever decided to open a ritz three storefronts away from a best buy deserves some of the blame too.

I think their biggest problem was that they operated as little more than showrooms for Amazon.com and bhphotovideo.com which could offer the merchandise at lower prices. And returns aren't a hassle at amazon where you contact a call center agent 12,000 miles away who any cares about closing the incident ticket for the call.

Walk in to Ritz, fondle the camera, go home, fire up your PC, order from Amazon...

Not a winning business model...

 

[m_allard]

A more important question becomes - what about Nikon USA? I understood that they were an unsecured creditor to the tune of about $26.6 million when Ritz filed Chapter 11.

Just a drop in the bucket

 

[amuderick]

I scored a lot of good stuff at Ritz as they transitioned away from film. There was a phase when they were unloading all their filters at 90% off prices. Also, the many many boxes of Polaroid film including 8x10 and 4x5 at 50% off because they were 1 day past expiration. I will miss them....but I am not surprised.

 

[bob100684]

Just a drop in the bucket

Even as a Canon shooter, I really hope it doesn't harm nikon too much. Their reps were some of the nicest people I met working at the chain, knowledgeable, helpful and really useful in drumming up buisness with nikon days.

 

[fotch]

Unfortunately (if your a retailer), that has happen in a lot of businesses even before the internet.

For buyers who bellyache about why they cannot buy things locally anymore, the do get to save money at the lost of convenience.

Life in the Free world.

 

[GJA]

I bought my first camera there. Had I known about the marvels of the internet, i would probably never have walked in.

 

[Sirius Glass]

So you were hoarding yourself?

Shhhh ... you broke the code!

Steve

 

[2F/2F]

Their biggest problem was that they were a McCamera Store, designed only to serve the unwashed masses. Every one I ever entered was 100% useless for my purposes. (That is three of them in the L.A. area, and I had just started photography when I went in.) They couldn't even answer a question to help me find what I needed once it was determined that they could not provide it. The people who worked there were just plain ignorant. I can understand a store being consumer oriented, but I have no patience for so-called retail professionals who are totally ignorant. Elitist? Mean? You betcha. They sucked big time and I am glad they are gone.

 

[Papa Tango]

And in the end...

What will happen to the Wolf branded store operations?

 

[ElrodCod]

I went into a Ritz store looking for 4X5 sheet film once.

Me: Do you have any 4X5 Sheet film?

Salesman: No.

Me: Can you special order some for me?

Salesman: No.

My take on Ritz going belly up.....adios, good riddance.

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

Their biggest problem was that they were a McCamera Store, designed only to serve the unwashed masses. Every one I ever entered was 100% useless for my purposes. (That is three of them in the L.A. area, and I had just started photography when I went in.) They couldn't even answer a question to help me find what I needed once it was determined that they could not provide it. The people who worked there were just plain ignorant. I can understand a store being consumer oriented, but I have no patience for so-called retail professionals who are totally ignorant. Elitist? Mean? You betcha. They sucked big time and I am glad they are gone.

That's because retail workers are not professionals. They make $7 an hour...what on Earth did you expect?

I worked in a one hour photo lab when I was in college. I was the only person there who knew what he was doing and a lot of the customers would only let me do their film. I made $5.50 an hour to start (this was about 13 yrs ago when minimum wage was $5.15) and made $7.75 when I quit soon after graduating from college. $7.75 was the TOP PAY for the position. I could never make any more unless the company decided to increase the wage scale (they have as minimum wage has gone up, but the top is still only $8.50 according to my former co-workers who are still there).

I couldn't live on $7.75 or even 8.50 an hour....I was willing to do it in college cause I lived with my parents and had no real responsibilities. Now I have a child and I live on my own. I can't live on less than $30,000 a year, and I can live on that little only because the cost of living is REALLY REALLY LOW in Indiana. What about people working at Ritz stores in California where housing costs 4 times what it does here? They paid half the cost of living in a cheap place like Indiana!

Until people in this country start supporting the idea that all workers deserve a LIVING WAGE, rather than a starving wage, retail workers and others making similar low wages will continue to be low-quality workers. You get what you pay for. We all know that when we buy film...expensive Kodak film is better than cheap Efke film, right? Why are we too dumb to understand that it works the same with labor.

 

[Nikanon]

i currently work at a ritz and i hate that they jump on the digital bandwagon, it only feeds peoples concerns of quick and easy, evne dslr shooters complain if they dont have live view or something, its really depressing, im always anxious to let people know i am a HEAVY film shooter in any conversation so they are not totally sucked up by digital, but most people just dont care anymore, its all easy easy easy quick quick quick, soon even a 3 second cooking of a pop tart in the microwave wont be enough (look at the back of any pop-tart package btw thats the actual time)

 

[Nikanon]

in truth i will say most of the employees i met at ritz's were not very smart, didnt know much about photography, didnt care about my needs or anything, they thought they were big shot's but they were just rude salesman, so when i started working there to help actual people i was always treated as just a salesman although i have yet to be asked a serious question i cant answer other than, WHICH CAMERA IS THE BEST>???>? HIGH MEGAPIXELS ARE DA BOMB, ugh, :-/

 

[PKM-25]

Any word on if this affects Wolf camera or not?