Samy's Camera in San Francisco Permanently Closed

[logan2z]

Sad to hear that Samy's Camera San Francisco has closed its doors permanently...

Beloved SF shop shutters after 10 years

The store closed with almost no warning.

www.sfgate.com

 

[pentaxuser]

Do you know the reasons? It seems ironic that with this demand for film that Kodak for one is struggling to meet, the demand for cameras and repairs cannot sustain a camera shop or make it a viable business for sale at least

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[wiltw]

Samy's had been apparently having issues, stopping retail sales and only renting gear, in 2022. "San Francisco store stopped selling new gear and just rentals now since looting and robbery escalated there" (for example the SF Leica store robbery of close to $200k in merchandise). Same for SoCal store on Sepulveda. The SF store's asst manager said the store had been losing money for years and the lease for the building was coming up in March. and two other locations (Santa Barbara and Culver City) had closed in 2019. Handwriting long on the wall.

 

[Trail Images]

The ongoing losses seems unending. Seeing the two stores I frequented years ago, Claremont & Redlands Cameras, shuttering they were both independent stores that I really enjoined visiting back in the day. They had everything and if not they'd order it with usually a minimal deposit.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Samy's had been apparently having issues, stopping retail sales and only renting gear, in 2022. "San Francisco store stopped selling new gear and just rentals now since looting and robbery escalated there" (for example the SF Leica store robbery of close to $200k in merchandise). Same for SoCal store on Sepulveda. The SF store's asst manager said the store had been losing money for years and the lease for the building was coming up in March. and two other locations (Santa Barbara and Culver City) had closed in 2019. Handwriting long on the wall.

The Samy's on Sepulveda was closed because the property owner would not renew the lease. All those employees were transfered to the Fairfax store.

 

[wiltw]

The Samy's on Sepulveda was closed because the property owner would not renew the lease. All those employees were transfered to the Fairfax store.

If I had sequenced the sentences of my earlier reply a bit differently, it would have gotten across the point that Sepulveda had gone to rental-only (no sales) just like the SF store (which just closed).

The craziness is that two Samy's stores closed with the lease renewal being a key reason behind the decision...two landlords who no longer collect rent, as they now have empty no-income producing properties, because they got too be too money-grabbing with current tenant. Short sightedness.

 

[Sirius Glass]

If I had sequenced the sentences of my earlier reply a bit differently, it would have gotten across the point that Sepulveda had gone to rental-only (no sales) just like the SF store (which just closed).

The craziness is that two Samy's store closed with the lease renewal being a key reason behind the decision...two landlords who no longer collect rent, so they have empty no-income producing properties, because they got too be too money-grabbing with current tenant. Short sightedness.

There were never plans for the Sepulveda store to go to rentals only. They made a lot of money on camera sales, selling supplies and processing. They had a strong business for West Los Angeles College and other schools' photographic classes.

 

[wiltw]

There were never plans for the Sepulveda store to go to rentals only. They made a lot of money on camera sales, selling supplies and processing. They had a strong business for West Los Angeles College and other schools' photographic classes.

A very long time ago, I recall going into the LA Samy's store before Samy's had ventured into the SF Bay area market, and wishing to myself for a store like that to open in SF. It took about a decade for that to happen.

 

[rcphoto]

They made a lot of money on camera sales

There is almost no money to be made in camera's unless we're talking used sales. When I left the business of selling cameras, we made less than 10% on a new camera sale and even less if there were rebates offered by the manufacturers. This applied to Nikon and Canon. I believe the other brands we carried, averaged closer to 15%.

 

[pentaxuser]

There were never plans for the Sepulveda store to go to rentals only. They made a lot of money on camera sales, selling supplies and processing. They had a strong business for West Los Angeles College and other schools' photographic classes.

So why did the Sepulveda store go to rentals only or are you saying that wiltw has got the wrong story?

Frankly as a story of running a business the posts so far do seem to be telling a very strange story

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[mshchem]

There is almost no money to be made in camera's unless we're talking used sales. When I left the business of selling cameras, we made less than 10% on a new camera sale and even less if there were rebates offered by the manufacturers. This applied to Nikon and Canon. I believe the other brands we carried, averaged closer to 15%.

From my bit of knowledge, dealers typically were required to pay half of the rebate offered by the camera company.

 

[rcphoto]

From my bit of knowledge, dealers typically were required to pay half of the rebate offered by the camera company.

As an example, Nikon and canon would offer competing discounts, usually about $100 off depending on the product. We would take the discount off at the register and then we would get $80 back in credit towards the next restocking order.

So basically on low end cameras you break even at best and hope to sell accessories which is where the money is actually made. “House brands” regularly had 70% margin or better.

 

[Sirius Glass]

So why did the Sepulveda store go to rentals only or are you saying that wiltw has got the wrong story?

Frankly as a story of running a business the posts so far do seem to be telling a very strange story

Thanks

pentaxuser

@wiltw has is wrong. I was a regular customer.

 

[wiltw]

@wiltw has is wrong. I was a regular customer.

Then the story had it wrong...I merely cited what was said within one story about the closing of the SF store.

 

[guangong]

From what I read, it’s a wonder any kind of retail store can make it today in SF. In NYC both B&H and Adorama are in pretty safe areas.

 

[BrianShaw]

The Samy's on Sepulveda was closed because the property owner would not renew the lease. All those employees were transfered to the Fairfax store.

The craziness is that two Samy's stores closed with the lease renewal being a key reason behind the decision...two landlords who no longer collect rent, as they now have empty no-income producing properties, because they got too be too money-grabbing with current tenant. Short sightedness.

This is the backstory on the Sepulveda Blvd location: The building was architecturally unique and Samy’s did not own it. The investment company that owned the building and leased to Samy’s sold the building to another investment company who had other plans for the property.

https://labusinessjournal.com/real-estate/samys-camera-building-culver-city-sold/

The Braddock – 4411 Sepulveda, Culver City, California – Tova Capital

tovacapital.com

4411 Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90230 | LoopNet

4411 Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90230. This space can be viewed on LoopNet. Best-in-class creative office conversion building. Strategic

www.loopnet.com

I'm wondering what the backstory on the San Francisco location may be.

 

[Sirius Glass]

This is the backstory on the Sepulveda Blvd location: The building was architecturally unique and Samy’s did not own it. The investment company that owned the building and leased to Samy’s sold the building to another investment company who had other plans for the property.

https://labusinessjournal.com/real-estate/samys-camera-building-culver-city-sold/

The Braddock – 4411 Sepulveda, Culver City, California – Tova Capital

tovacapital.com

4411 Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90230 | LoopNet

4411 Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90230. This space can be viewed on LoopNet. Best-in-class creative office conversion building. Strategic

www.loopnet.com

I'm wondering what the backstory on the San Francisco location may be.

Thank you for clarifying the background about the Sepulveda store. I had neglected to fill in the details.

 

[Radost]

Did they have any armed robberies?

 

[Rayt]

Their SF location isn’t conveniently located, and on foot you need to walk through blocks of crud to get there. It’s an area where you definitely need a purpose to visit not for some casual browsing.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Did they have any armed robberies?

I am unaware of Samy's having armed robberies, but there were several in a short time in San Francisco.

 

[beemermark]

They closed for one reason. They weren’t making a profit and didn’t expect to make one in the future.

 

[Sirius Glass]

They closed for one reason. They weren’t making a profit and didn’t expect to make one in the future.

And that is based on what?!? What you had for breakfast or do you have real facts to back that up?

 

[Richard Man]

I thought San Francisco is very safe We have had a 20 pages thread making fun of people not feeling safe in SF. Things sure can change in 2 weeks.

 

[Huss]

Bummer, I never made it to the SF store. The Culver one was my local and after it closed that actually determined where I was going to live when I moved back to SoCal!
Picked Hermosa Beach as Pauls Photo was close for my film needs.

 

[Huss]

re the SF Samys location, I never made it there as I would frequent the Embarcado area on bike or skateboard, and there was no easy way to get to Samys. So I’d go to Glass Key instead. Or that shop (Fireside?) on Chestnut.