alfredian
Well-known
I went to my neighborhood RitzCamera late this afternoon to have some 8x12 "real" enlargements made and 2 rolls scanned. Place was shuttered w/printed sign directing me to the Beltslville, MD store/corporate HQ for service, effective 22nd June.
On the web, Googling for driving directions, I saw a news/blurb stating "Ritz Camera bankrupt for second time in three years." And closing 128 stores, axing half their staff. Bummer.
Other than being convenient (walking distance) the "darkroom" staff were GREAT! knew exactly what "let the shadows go dark" means. I used to buy film there, back when they stocked it. Recently, developing, scanning & bags, etc.
Very definitely getting that "walls are closing in" or "Edgar Allen Poe was right" feeling. Apparently taking in C-41 color work in lots of 2 or 4 or 8 or 10+ rolls at a time isn't enough "volume."
On the web, Googling for driving directions, I saw a news/blurb stating "Ritz Camera bankrupt for second time in three years." And closing 128 stores, axing half their staff. Bummer.
Other than being convenient (walking distance) the "darkroom" staff were GREAT! knew exactly what "let the shadows go dark" means. I used to buy film there, back when they stocked it. Recently, developing, scanning & bags, etc.
Very definitely getting that "walls are closing in" or "Edgar Allen Poe was right" feeling. Apparently taking in C-41 color work in lots of 2 or 4 or 8 or 10+ rolls at a time isn't enough "volume."
kokoshawnuff
Alex
An unfortunate recurring story, good luck in a search for another competent lab or taking the steps to begin developing your own c41
intheviewfinder
Street
The last time this happened the biggies were left holding the bag. I don't know what Ritz did to get back in to their good graces but I cannot help but think the larger camera manufacturers will no longer supply this chain with product. That can only mean that this company will spiral into oblivion.
kshapero
South Florida Man
I went into my local Ritz a few times over the years. i was never impressed with them. They had neither the knowledge of a good hometown Camera shop or the overall offerings of a box store or internet site. their time has come and gone.
anjoca76
Well-known
I hate to see anyone lose his or her job, so in that regard I am sorry to hear the news, but I personally find very little redeeming value in the local Ritz locations where I live.
matthewm
Well-known
Here goes...
I worked for Ritz Camera off-and-on for about 6 years through college and a little after (2002-2009, roughly). When I started, there were 5 stores in my area. Two mall stores, a strip mall store, an outdoor mall store and a downtown storefront. The downtown store went first, then the mall stores, then the outdoor mall and finally, they were left with one strip mall store in a higher-end shopping center near some high-end neighborhoods. I moved stores three times and finally was let go after being accused of theft and proving my innocence so that I could retain unemployment benefits.
David Ritz is an idiot. He invested tons and tons of money in Boater's World (his passion). I watched the two BW stores in my town fold as well (one was right next to one of the Ritz Camera stores). A funny side note is that while his stores were boarding up left and right, he had a multi-million dollar yacht parked in the Charleston harbor.
David Ritz tried to expand and start carrying televisions, net books, tablets and a plethora of cheap electronic gadgets. And don't get me started on his Verizon Wireless ventures (who buys a cell phone from Ritz Camera? No one, that's who). Their prices were unbelievably high, sans the occasional sale on a Nikon DXX or DXXXX. They forced their ESP (Extended Service Plan) on customers, which was a joke. It was very expensive, for one. Then, they promise that they will fix or replace any camera covered under the ESP, no questions asked. What they don't tell you is that a repair or replacement takes 6-8 weeks on average. I saw replacements take 6 months. You would think that if a camera comes in and is literally in pieces in a Ziploc bag (I saw that multiple times), that a replacement could be issued on the spot, but no. They required it be sent in to the repair facility. The facility would then issue a non-repair ticket and corporate would decide on an appropriate replacement camera (same model or a comparable model). The replacement would then be sent to the store regardless of whether or not the store had the camera in stock (typically not).
Their Quantaray line was cheap and unreliable. I returned hundreds of filters, bags, tripods and lenses that were defective.
They hired uneducated people to run their stores. They paid minimum wage, and had poor management. A couple of days in training and you could run the lab by yourself. I was a good lab technician. I understand photography, exposure, metering and color balance. I understand the limits of film and dynamic range. I was also a good sales person. I was far more knowledgeable than any customer that walked in the door.
Ritz Camera got away from photography. They tried to become an electronics giant. But, in towns with multiple big-box stores, they couldn't compete. They lost their hometown advantage by dropping educated, service-oriented workers for cheap labor and salesmen and they removed C-41 and E6 processing from the majority of their stores in favor of digital prints (can't blame them on that, really, but it would have been nice to retain their roots). Their lab technicians would be weeks getting repairs made which lost countless dollars in printing because machines would just sit idle.
Ritz tried and tried to come up with membership programs and money-saving opportunities, but for the average Joe, Walmart's prints were sufficient and were 1/3 the price of the Ritz counterpart. They offered video to DVD services at nearly twice the price of local competition. It was a no-win situation for them. They declared bankruptcy once, and had to jack up prices to try and recoup their business. I don't think they'll come back from it again. Canon refused to sell to them so they lost that. They were carrying Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and Nikon. The last store in my area shipped back all of the Canon gear during the first bankruptcy. I think they basically gave it all back and didn't pay anything else. Canon took like a $20M loss on that deal, if I recall. We then shipped all the Nikon gear back and they did some thing where Ritz re-purchased the gear at like 30 cents on the dollar or something. Nikon took a smaller loss than Canon, but became an exclusive manufacturer (their branding was all over the stores). Ritz didn't have enough invested in the other guys to really matter, but everyone took a loss. That anyone stuck with them is a miracle and they were foolish to do so.
I hate that I'm just bashing the hell out of Ritz, but I watched that company implode from the inside. Fortunately, I got out and was able to move on to other things. I'm sad for all of the people that will lose their benefits and their jobs. It's a tough economy and a lot of them won't find similar employment. David Ritz played roulette with the company his dad built and lost it not once, but twice. He was foolish and his employees will pay dearly for it in the coming months.
I worked for Ritz Camera off-and-on for about 6 years through college and a little after (2002-2009, roughly). When I started, there were 5 stores in my area. Two mall stores, a strip mall store, an outdoor mall store and a downtown storefront. The downtown store went first, then the mall stores, then the outdoor mall and finally, they were left with one strip mall store in a higher-end shopping center near some high-end neighborhoods. I moved stores three times and finally was let go after being accused of theft and proving my innocence so that I could retain unemployment benefits.
David Ritz is an idiot. He invested tons and tons of money in Boater's World (his passion). I watched the two BW stores in my town fold as well (one was right next to one of the Ritz Camera stores). A funny side note is that while his stores were boarding up left and right, he had a multi-million dollar yacht parked in the Charleston harbor.
David Ritz tried to expand and start carrying televisions, net books, tablets and a plethora of cheap electronic gadgets. And don't get me started on his Verizon Wireless ventures (who buys a cell phone from Ritz Camera? No one, that's who). Their prices were unbelievably high, sans the occasional sale on a Nikon DXX or DXXXX. They forced their ESP (Extended Service Plan) on customers, which was a joke. It was very expensive, for one. Then, they promise that they will fix or replace any camera covered under the ESP, no questions asked. What they don't tell you is that a repair or replacement takes 6-8 weeks on average. I saw replacements take 6 months. You would think that if a camera comes in and is literally in pieces in a Ziploc bag (I saw that multiple times), that a replacement could be issued on the spot, but no. They required it be sent in to the repair facility. The facility would then issue a non-repair ticket and corporate would decide on an appropriate replacement camera (same model or a comparable model). The replacement would then be sent to the store regardless of whether or not the store had the camera in stock (typically not).
Their Quantaray line was cheap and unreliable. I returned hundreds of filters, bags, tripods and lenses that were defective.
They hired uneducated people to run their stores. They paid minimum wage, and had poor management. A couple of days in training and you could run the lab by yourself. I was a good lab technician. I understand photography, exposure, metering and color balance. I understand the limits of film and dynamic range. I was also a good sales person. I was far more knowledgeable than any customer that walked in the door.
Ritz Camera got away from photography. They tried to become an electronics giant. But, in towns with multiple big-box stores, they couldn't compete. They lost their hometown advantage by dropping educated, service-oriented workers for cheap labor and salesmen and they removed C-41 and E6 processing from the majority of their stores in favor of digital prints (can't blame them on that, really, but it would have been nice to retain their roots). Their lab technicians would be weeks getting repairs made which lost countless dollars in printing because machines would just sit idle.
Ritz tried and tried to come up with membership programs and money-saving opportunities, but for the average Joe, Walmart's prints were sufficient and were 1/3 the price of the Ritz counterpart. They offered video to DVD services at nearly twice the price of local competition. It was a no-win situation for them. They declared bankruptcy once, and had to jack up prices to try and recoup their business. I don't think they'll come back from it again. Canon refused to sell to them so they lost that. They were carrying Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and Nikon. The last store in my area shipped back all of the Canon gear during the first bankruptcy. I think they basically gave it all back and didn't pay anything else. Canon took like a $20M loss on that deal, if I recall. We then shipped all the Nikon gear back and they did some thing where Ritz re-purchased the gear at like 30 cents on the dollar or something. Nikon took a smaller loss than Canon, but became an exclusive manufacturer (their branding was all over the stores). Ritz didn't have enough invested in the other guys to really matter, but everyone took a loss. That anyone stuck with them is a miracle and they were foolish to do so.
I hate that I'm just bashing the hell out of Ritz, but I watched that company implode from the inside. Fortunately, I got out and was able to move on to other things. I'm sad for all of the people that will lose their benefits and their jobs. It's a tough economy and a lot of them won't find similar employment. David Ritz played roulette with the company his dad built and lost it not once, but twice. He was foolish and his employees will pay dearly for it in the coming months.
loquax ludens
Well-known
That's a sad story, matthewm. Thanks for relating it.
ramosa
B&W
i'm surprised they could even stay in business this long. any camera seller with actual locations (aside from, say, a main one in NYC) is really challenged these days. it's not easy to compete with B&H or amazon, etc.
matthewm
Well-known
Unless they offer comparable prices, you're right. And Ritz Camera's prices weren't just incomparable, they were significantly higher.
Actually, their online prices are comparable to B&H, but Ritz Camera's online store and their brick and mortar stores are two different entities (a little-known fact). People used to come into the store all the time and say, "I saw that same camera on your website for $150 cheaper." And I would always have to explain that RitzCamera.com and Ritz Camera & Imaging were two different companies. Most people didn't understand it. Hell, I didn't understand it, but it was what it was. I would also have people come in to return something they bought at RitzCamera.com and we couldn't take it back because it came from the website. That's foolishness. If I buy something from BestBuy.com, I can return it to any BestBuy store, same with Target, Walmart, Sears, Dillards, etc. Even Lands End lets you return merchandise to Sears.
Ritz made very foolish decisions and played a lot of little pricing games. The worst part is, David Ritz will walk away a millionaire and all the store-level employees will be scrounging pennies to eat.
I think it goes without saying that I have little respect for that guy. Haha!
nikon_sam
Shooter of Film...
I used Ritz when there were around here where I live...There were two stores and I had my preference of the two...the one I did use I knew the manager and she was very nice, knew what she was doing...she also knew what I expected from them and delivered every time...I spent a lot of time in that store and we would talk for hours...they did a great job developing and printing and then later developing and scanning...the price was right and quality good...I bought their Ritz branded 200ASA film usually buying all they had on the shelf when I went in...back then it was $2/roll of 36 ex. rebranded Fuji film...
The last thing I bought there was 50 rolls of film...it took way too long for them to deliver it and that should have been my first clue...they did get me 8 rolls of the 50 ordered and nothing more...it took about another year to finally get the refund owed to me...It's sad that employees will be let go and stores closed...I would still be using them if they were around even though many bad things had been said about them..quality, not a real camera store, uneducated staff...stuff like that...
The last thing I bought there was 50 rolls of film...it took way too long for them to deliver it and that should have been my first clue...they did get me 8 rolls of the 50 ordered and nothing more...it took about another year to finally get the refund owed to me...It's sad that employees will be let go and stores closed...I would still be using them if they were around even though many bad things had been said about them..quality, not a real camera store, uneducated staff...stuff like that...
burancap
Mentor
Thanks for the internal insight.
I had noticed the oddness of my (closed) local store several years ago.
It felt like a dollar store had collided with a radio shack.
I had noticed the oddness of my (closed) local store several years ago.
It felt like a dollar store had collided with a radio shack.
alfredian
Well-known
Cheerfully clueless
Cheerfully clueless
Well, I took my negs to be scanned plus a few for enlargement to 8x12 to the main HQ location here in Maryland. The crew (3-4 people, including very knowledgeable manager) at my down-the-street place did great 'darkroom' work. At the HQ - one of the counter staff recognized me "from the other place" - he was one of the cheerfully clueless ringer-uppers. No sign of the other manager or the dweeby-but-competent 'darkroom' crew.
I stick to film/developing plus the occasional small/cheap-end baggage. Used to get filters there, until they ended up in either a box under the counter or a (pricey) display. The main floor of the store was dominated by "kiosk" things with Kodak logos where suburbanite hausfraus would struggle to upload/download or choose/edit pix from digital media.
There IS a market for actual "pitchers" you hold in your hand, put in an album, or hang on a wall. Cell phones don't have it all, at least not for permanence, size or quality, so there is a neighborhood (=short drive) market for hard-copy.
Odd, but now I know what the big signs for "Boater World" were out at the entrance to the parking lot. The "camera store" is almost a speakeasy, but Boaters have it made. The surviving "local camera stores" seem to be small and run by dedicated old-timers who now cater to the knowledgeable or quality oriented customer.
Cheerfully clueless
Well, I took my negs to be scanned plus a few for enlargement to 8x12 to the main HQ location here in Maryland. The crew (3-4 people, including very knowledgeable manager) at my down-the-street place did great 'darkroom' work. At the HQ - one of the counter staff recognized me "from the other place" - he was one of the cheerfully clueless ringer-uppers. No sign of the other manager or the dweeby-but-competent 'darkroom' crew.
I stick to film/developing plus the occasional small/cheap-end baggage. Used to get filters there, until they ended up in either a box under the counter or a (pricey) display. The main floor of the store was dominated by "kiosk" things with Kodak logos where suburbanite hausfraus would struggle to upload/download or choose/edit pix from digital media.
There IS a market for actual "pitchers" you hold in your hand, put in an album, or hang on a wall. Cell phones don't have it all, at least not for permanence, size or quality, so there is a neighborhood (=short drive) market for hard-copy.
Odd, but now I know what the big signs for "Boater World" were out at the entrance to the parking lot. The "camera store" is almost a speakeasy, but Boaters have it made. The surviving "local camera stores" seem to be small and run by dedicated old-timers who now cater to the knowledgeable or quality oriented customer.
Gumby
Mentor
Sejanus.Aelianus
Mentor
It is the story of business the world over. I've seen it many times, here in the UK. The story of Gerald Ratner, who destroyed his previously successful business by describing one of his own products as "total crap", casts a revealing light on just how much hubris these guys can aquire.
The problem is, as you say, they walk away with plenty of cash to tide them over, leaving their employees to suffer the consequences.
Ronald M
Mentor
my pro lab has one film customer left. He brings in 10 rolls and they take it to a mini lab in a real camera store in a nearby town.
Film is going out I am afraid.
Ritz pricing is crazy silly high on photo gear.
My color is digital and farmed out printing.
Film is going out I am afraid.
Ritz pricing is crazy silly high on photo gear.
My color is digital and farmed out printing.
mwoenv
Well-known
Between film photography becoming a small niche and online shopping, operating a local store seems impossible. With film photography, camera stores had ongoing purchases for film, chemicals, paper, accessories, and darkroom gear. Now, sell the digital camera and a few accessories and that's it.
I think those sticking to film need to seriously consider doing their own processing. I have been doing that (black and white film and prints for decades) and color film and prints in the last few years, and once you get over the learning curve it's easy (and very enjoyable to me). Sure, it's a l ittle more time-consuming than digital or having film and print processing done for you, but quality, not quantity!
I think those sticking to film need to seriously consider doing their own processing. I have been doing that (black and white film and prints for decades) and color film and prints in the last few years, and once you get over the learning curve it's easy (and very enjoyable to me). Sure, it's a l ittle more time-consuming than digital or having film and print processing done for you, but quality, not quantity!
dave lackey
Mentor
Ritz, Wolf Camera, whatever.
In the last 20 years, they have gone from a marginal camera store with accessories and photographic services that were okay, to a joke. Processing was usually completely screwed up, could never find a camera strap, a proper bag, studio equipment, grey card, film, or anything in the last 10 years.
Everytime I went in any of their shops, there was a kid behind the counter who really did not have a clue about photography or gear.
IMO, they get what they deserve in business and I hope they completely disappear because poor service is worse than none at all. Long live the independent shops and I hope they get more business when Ritz is gone.:angel:
In the last 20 years, they have gone from a marginal camera store with accessories and photographic services that were okay, to a joke. Processing was usually completely screwed up, could never find a camera strap, a proper bag, studio equipment, grey card, film, or anything in the last 10 years.
Everytime I went in any of their shops, there was a kid behind the counter who really did not have a clue about photography or gear.
IMO, they get what they deserve in business and I hope they completely disappear because poor service is worse than none at all. Long live the independent shops and I hope they get more business when Ritz is gone.:angel: