Ritz Camera files Chapter 11

[BobNewYork]

.........and the clerk (I'm sorry, sales associate) shoved the warranty down their throat.

Yeah - don't you hate that? I refuse the warranties as a matter of course - electronics, appliances etc - and it almost feels like I've insulted the sales associate - and his mother!!

Bob H

 

[bobwysiwyg]

Just be careful with liquidation sales. Often the prices are marked UP before they're marked down. Best to compare with other sources as bob100684 has done.

Good advice. Often "liquidations" are outsourced to third-party entities who specialize (hah!) in this. It's in their best interest to get as much as possible out of the sale and the entire liquidation process.

 

[GeorgeDexter]

Ritz dug their own grave, but they had help. Their eventual downfall was caused by poor staff and average merchandise. They pushed crummy Quantaray lenses because the margin was better than Nikon and Canon. Even then, margin was so low they couldn't afford good help. It's a viscious cycle.

The bigger picture is, if we all price shop for the lowest price, that's what we get. Poor service. Specialty stores can't afford to keep good help at a living wage because they're getting eaten alive by the internet. Everybody says "offer better service than your competitors, to make up for your higher prices." Sorry, but that doesn't work. The customers milk you for knowledge and help, and then when it comes time to get the wallet out, they ask if you'll meet B&H's price. We can't meet B&H's because they get volume discounts from the manufacturers. If everybody continues to shop at WalMart and on the internet, that's where everybody will have to work, too.
In 1910 Henry Ford decided to pay his workers twice what his competitors were paying theirs, so that they could afford his cars. Yes, it probably raised the prices of Fords, but he had happier, better workers, and his company flourished because of it. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say "I like to shop local, as long as it doesn't cost me any more..." Sometimes doing the right thing does cost more. Shoping locally IS the RIGHT thing to do. It injects money into your local and State economy, and that helps everyone, including you.

 

[BobNewYork]

Ritz dug their own grave, but they had help. Their eventual downfall was caused by poor staff and average merchandise. They pushed crummy Quantaray lenses because the margin was better than Nikon and Canon. Even then, margin was so low they couldn't afford good help. It's a viscious cycle.

The bigger picture is, if we all price shop for the lowest price, that's what we get. Poor service. Specialty stores can't afford to keep good help at a living wage because they're getting eaten alive by the internet. Everybody says "offer better service than your competitors, to make up for your higher prices." Sorry, but that doesn't work. The customers milk you for knowledge and help, and then when it comes time to get the wallet out, they ask if you'll meet B&H's price. We can't meet B&H's because they get volume discounts from the manufacturers. If everybody continues to shop at WalMart and on the internet, that's where everybody will have to work, too.
In 1910 Henry Ford decided to pay his workers twice what his competitors were paying theirs, so that they could afford his cars. Yes, it probably raised the prices of Fords, but he had happier, better workers, and his company flourished because of it. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say "I like to shop local, as long as it doesn't cost me any more..." Sometimes doing the right thing does cost more. Shoping locally IS the RIGHT thing to do. It injects money into your local and State economy, and that helps everyone, including you.

AMEN to that! It wasn't just Ritz who dug their own grave - we, as consumers did the same thing. In the end, you get what you pay for. Just look around you at what we got!

Bob H

 

[mgb74]

George and Bob make good points. It must be particularly galling to have customers visit your store, learn from your trained and reasonably compensated staff, try out your demo equipment, then buy from the lowest cost provider on the internet (or, many years ago, from the advertisers in the back of Modern Photography).

But I'm not sure that Ritz ever was in the dilemma of being a low cost, high service retailer. More like a high cost, low service. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I don't think so.

 

[jim appleyard]

... More like a high cost, low service. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I don't think so.

Yes and no. The ritz near me was mostly quite good at service. They had 4 guys who really knew photography and a lab tech who was good. On the other hand, they also had a lab tech who was a grouch and didn't care what she printed. She went on to become a teacher and mother; God help her students and children!

Cameras were sold at low cost, but could not and did not want to compete with gray market. They made money on their extended warranties, film club and accessories. These were overpriced, but often sold because the customer had just bought a new camera and now needed the extras.

 

[JMC1969]

From my perspective, I have always put Ritz on the list along with the other big box stores. As far as I am concerned they are just one more company that got too big for their britches. While they may have started as a small independent store offering a good service in areas it was not previously offered, they grew to become another one of those stores that made it almost impossible for other independent stores and labs to compete in their own market. As another poster here said, customers come in and want to support their local small business, but in the end, they want to know why we can't give them 4x6 prints for .09 cents a piece like Ritz does. I know there is not another actual camera store located within a 100 miles of me now, but then I don't think you could call Ritz a camera store anymore. Probably part of their down fall was they tried to move into competition with other big Electronic stores like Best Buy, Circuit City (gone), and the Walleyworlds. Overall, I think it would be best if we got back to the "Mom and Pop" stores across the board. I'm sure there are many problems with that idea such as employment for an over populated world, but I just don't have a problem taking myself to a couple different stores to pick up what I need. I'm not so busy that I need to get fresh Bananas, a can of paint, new socks and a camera all in one place. I know I have moved a little off the Ritz subject with that comment, as then didn't offer all of that, but I'm not sure they were so far off.

 

[JMC1969]

Just to follow up, I walked into one over the weekend that is said to not be closing. If they don't close because of the bankruptcy, they will sure close due to not having any inventory. I'm sure they are unable to buy product right now, but I would have thought they had warehouse's to continue to stock the shelves of continuing locations. Apparently not, They had a told of 3 rolls of 135 Fuji Senia 200 36exp and 1 disposable underwater Fuji camera on the shelf. The store was very sparse to say the least.

 

[Vonder]

I think it's hopeless, personally

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say "I like to shop local, as long as it doesn't cost me any more..." Sometimes doing the right thing does cost more. Shoping locally IS the RIGHT thing to do. It injects money into your local and State economy, and that helps everyone, including you.

Apples must be compared to apples. Many consumers get all the pre-purchase information they need from the internet. They decide, then try and find the best price. Shopping locally is then a wise option because you save time (if the product is on the shelf) but if time is not an issue, the higher prices are going to turn the consumer away, every time. No trace of "community" or "hometown" pride exists any more, but in the end, maybe the $100-300 (the average markup at local camera stores VS B&H and Adorama) you save buying at B&H goes to buy locally-grown produce from the farmer's market.

I buy from my local guys when I can, but when you're talking that kind of money, I'll spend my "community pride" money on local foods instead. When my local store is gone, yes, I will miss it, but not because they were a font of knowledge that I relied on. Truth be told, I usually do more educating than get educated, especially with film gear.

The ugly truth is that stores survive and flourish on the whims of the consumer. If you can't give them a real reason to shop in YOUR store, then you are doomed. And nowadays, the only thing that matters is price.

 

[mynewromantica]

What, for having bagged chemicals and enlargers? Hardly "hazardous" in the form they are distributed. MAYBE, I could see them having a problem with liquid chemicals.

Actually liquid chemicls tend to be less hazardous. Breathing in chemical dust can actually be very bad for your lungs. Especially certain toners.

 

[zsas]

Today, after many years of restructuring, the 94 year old chain was sold to two liquidation companies after failing to find a buyer to continue to operate its remaining 137 stores (Ritz/Wolf) :

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/09/11/wolf-camera-parent-ritz-to-liquidate.html

 

[benjiboy]

It's a sign of the times. The competition is extreme and if you're going to compete on price then customers can only get what they pay for. The reality is that the majority of the staff simply aren't paid enough to give a damn. If you're competing with say CVS at 20 cents a print you have a problem with quality. The chains, for example, don't, (or didn't) have to purchase paper and chemistry - they paid Kodak by the print. They don't have to pay for maintenance of the processors - they buy enough to get that free. It's like the Nikon FM10 - made to a price - not a quality level. So the downward spiral goes. Cheap[er staff, cut maintenance corners etc.

I had a small camera store and studio until a few years ago. You couldn't compete on equipment sales. You'd spend hours with people discussing the right camera etc with them - then they'd come back with the camera you recommended from Best Buy or whatever and ask you to show them how to use it! Plus the box stores would sell this stuff for less than it cost me to buy it. The $100 more that a camera cost from me was the entire gross margin - which on a $1,200 piece of equipment ain't a lot!

CVS would send people in to me to get jammed film out of their cameras. Then they'd take the film back to CVS for the processing.

My niche became B&W film and paper. I worked with all the school kids who would come in for supplies. Evaluate their technique etc. I'd even go to schools and repair and align their enlargers. Then the local Wally World decided to stock Tri-X and 5x7 paper at prices about 10% below my cost! Didn't stop people coming in for help and advice - stopped 'em buying from me though!

One summer my son worked in the photo dept. at Best Buy - he was written up for spending too much time with customers! Apparently his job was not to help customers - it was to sell them stuff!!


"It's "brave new world" out there and and seven days a week of 12 hour days fighting a losing battle just wasn't worth it. Guess what? I'm a part time commercial photographer now!

You guys just had to get me going! Didn't you?

I'm a former photographic retail manager and the Sales Director of the group of ten camera shops I worked for told one of my staff who was an excellent and knowledgeable saleslady that she was spending too much time with the customers, and that if she couldn't sell a camera in fifteen or twenty minutes she was no good to him !, she was a very good and reliable employee who had worked for me for about five years and was very upset by his remarks, she found another job and left the company shortly afterwards although I asked her to stay to no avail, she told me her husband had insisted that she left, and I can't say I blame him.

 

[Leigh B]

The Ritz (and Boater's World) headquarters are about a half mile from my office.

I went in there a couple of times. My impression was "If this is their flagship and headquarters, I'd hate to see the little stores."

They went bankrupt 10-15 years ago, and closed most of their stores around the country. I think they kept maybe half a dozen.

 

[zsas]

Leigh - Is this all over your local news? Are there many staff from the corp hq affected?

I will be sorry to see my local Wolf go.

 

[Leigh B]

It's been mentioned locally, but there's no big deal about it.

I don't know how many staff are affected. After their previous bankruptcy, there were very few cars in the parking lot on weekdays.

Penn Camera went belly up in January, so Ritz is the second local one to go.

 

[c6h6o3]

Penn Camera went belly up in January, so Ritz is the second local one to go.

Not quite belly up. They filed a bankruptcy and then found an angel in Calumet. The Rockville store's still open, under the same name, I think. I'll be interested to see how long it stays open. They still don't sell sheet film, or chemicals or enlarging paper at that location, so as far as I'm concerned nothing's changed. They might as well have gone belly up for all I care. I don't know about the downtown DC location.

 

[Leigh B]

Penn went belly up. They closed six(?) stores, and sold the main downtown location, Rockville, and Tysons to Calumet.

They have themselves to blame, expanding ridiculously into the Baltimore area, buying Baker(?) camera and opening one in Reisterstown.

 

[BrianShaw]

Too bad... they were good for quite a while.

 

[Leigh B]

Yeah. I was a regular Penn customer since 1967. I was sad to see them go. Haven't been in the Calumet stores.

- Leigh