Palm Springs Camera store closing

[BWGirl]

I have no idea if anyone here is close to this store, but I'm in Palm Desert at Bill's daughter & sil's house, and we saw an article in the paper yesterday about the Camera Exchange Ltd. store closing at the end of this year.

We went there yesterday and I got a heck of a good deal on paper, spotone, and a few other things.

Here's the info on the place:

Camera Exchange Ltd.
875 N. Palm Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA

Sorry, don't have a phone number & he doesn't have a website. I told him he should come here & register & sell his old cameras. He's got a few tons of them.

Anyway, I got my spotone for $1/bottle & he threw in a 10-sheet package of 16x20 warmtone fiber paper free.

 

[Uncle Bill]

It is sad to hear this sort of thing.

 

[BWGirl]

It is sad to hear this sort of thing.

The biggest problem is not lack of business. He said he's had his store windows broken so many times & been robbed at gunpoint multiple times.

There are several businesses on that street that have started to close for the same reason. This is NOT in a bad area, either. Punks with illegal guns... enough to tick you off.

But if anyone is anywhere near this area, go there because yu will get some good deals!

 

[JamesMD]

Very sad to see John closing up Camera Exchange.

I have shopped there since 1975, I remember when Bill the former owner had three stores in the valley. I stop in a few times a week and according to John the current owner the reason for the store's demise was competition from the big electronic and big box stores coupled with digital. The store made much of its profit in the past from film sales. It's very sad to see this happen but it is a sign of the times.

 

[JLP]

Sorry to hear that the Camera exchange is closing. Years ago i was living in the Coachella Valley and did on ocation stop by to chat and buy a few things. John is a real nice guy and i wish him the best.
N. Palm Canyon Drive IS a bad area.. Drugs, prostitusion and anything related.. No wonder businesses are closing. Everything is moving south there.


jan

 

[mikebarger]

Jeanette probably meant not bad as compared to the upper midwest

 

[BWGirl]

Jeanette probably meant not bad as compared to the upper midwest

Exactly... no graffiti, no run down/boarded up buildings. Just happy palm trees and a few unique shops. :confused:

As to why he's closing... the newspaper said all the usual things... digital, big-box electronic stores, etc, BUT the day I was there (the day the article ran) there were three gents in there, and the owner was talking about being robbed, having his windows shot out, and the general decay of the area. I got the impression that while those things listed in the newspaper might have been contributing factors, the real reason was fear for his safety.

Regardless of why... the point is to get yourself in there & buy his stuff! I wish I'd have known that the dozen or so bottles of Spotone he had in the back was the stuff people are clamoring for here... I'd have bought the whole lot of it!