Brick & Mortar Photo Shops

So good for them if they can afford to blow off a willing customer. They must be doing quite well for themselves.
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They are not blowing off anyone..any more than you not doing uncle Louie's wedding for free..as you have better things to do..or even for $5 bux gas money..and a sandwich..
In a perfect world..everything you want ..is ordered for you..and you get it...that's Amazon..or B&H..except for Leica M10 that is...
For the little mom and pop..they simply cant order a few hundred $$ of supplies..for your tiny $20- I'm in a hurry purchase..and looky see..I spent a whole $50 - with you..in the past year...and their profits.. after you pay with Visa (3% charge to store ) and then they pay for shipping and the 35% of the profits that the govnt takes..its just not tenable....
Yes..they will tell you to your face..(hoping that some other people order paper in the meantime and then they can piggyback multiple orders) that they will order it..but the reality is..unless there is a big enough demand..your small order will have to wait..but probably never come..
But if you decided to special order a few hundred bux stuff at 1 time ....maybe they would be more cooperative..
 
There was a second-hand dealer in Calgary (pop. 1 million) run by a guy who knew everything about film cameras and had an amazing inventory going back to the 1930s (his motto: "If we don't have it, you don't need it"). He was happy to share his knowledge, especially with darkroom work, and one time fixed a rollfilm holder for me free of charge.
His heart wasn't into digital photography and he was slow to begin stocking digital equipment, so not surprisingly he shut his shop a few years ago. His store was the last in town to specialize in secondhand equipment -- now there's just the internet, no chance to handle equipment you're thinking of buying, a loss for Luddites like me.
 
Now closed
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You can see Calgary's Camera Store in some of their YouTube videos. They seem to be doing well -touch wood- AND they have the best selection of photo books in western Canada!
 
Mr Cad in London, near Victoria Station:
12 Upper Tachbrook Street,
London,
SW1V 1SH

Bought some D76 and Microphen there a couple of months ago.
 
Precision Camera in Austin (a sponsor of this forum) used to be in a tiny, tiny hole-in-the-wall location on Guadalupe Street, a few blocks north of the university.

Today, it's huge and modern, and they have a good selection of film stuffs.

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"The Camera Store" in Calgary Alberta, still the hub of pros and amateurs alike. I've known Peter Jeune & Julian Ferreira well....for decades from when they were clerks in long-gone stores. In fact I got my Durst 138 from Peter. All things digital, & a big used section. (Come to think of it, my Deardorff special came from them). A huge book section. Leicas new & used. Darkroom supplies (thank goodness). Online sales too.Great staff. Major supporters of photography in Calgary and the Bow Valley. Supporters of photo shows by the Canmore Artists & Artisans Guild. Always bringing great folks to town....like Wm Albert Allard. Beer or coffee & camera meetups around the city. No one like them. The Camera Store, great people with a passion for photography.
 
splitimageview said:
Precision Camera in Austin (a sponsor of this forum) used to be in a tiny, tiny hole-in-the-wall location on Guadalupe Street, a few blocks north of the university.

Today, it's huge and modern, and they have a good selection of film stuffs.
Click to expand...

I purchased my camera from Precision back in 2000. Back then they were located on N. Lamar. That shop was actually pretty large, but nothing like their digs now it would appear. Holy cow.
 
Looking globally, quite a lot new brick&mortar shops for traditional film photography have opened during the last two years. Especially in North America, Europe and South East Asia. Shops with used gear, mostly combined with a film lab, and often even offering workshops, photowalks etc.

Just two current examples:
1. Seattle:
https://www.shotonfilmstore.com/
2. Berlin:
http://clickundsurr.de/

And then you have globally all the new Fujifilm Wonder Shop photo stores. All of them have a strong focus on instant instax film photography. But an increasing number of them is also offering standard Fujifilm (negative and reversal film; e.g. the stores in NYC, Toronto, Barcelona), and some of them even offer film processing and silver-halide printing in their stores (e.g. NYC, Toronto).

Cheers, Jan
 
Rockbrook Camera. Three locations, one near you. (Assuming you're in the Omaha/Lincoln area, that is.) :)

Seriously, this is the sole surviving stand-alone camera merchant in the area. They do seem to be holding their own and their walk-in prices are surprisingly competitive with B&H mail/web prices.

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