Ritz Camera files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

[poker]

http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...32434320090223

I never bought anything there cuz it felt pricey.

[dl4449]

Just saw this ???
http://www.photographybay.com/2009/0...ng-bankruptcy/
Troy

[timbuck4]

Wow, I am in shock. I work for a major Digital Photo Processor and the guy that own Ritz is friends with the owner of our company

[Mr Yuck]

No surprise here.

They just aren't competitive enough, hopefully they can recover but if not, I wont shed a tear for losing them.

[mjs1973]

We had a Ritz in a mall about an hour away, but they closed up a few years ago. I like to go in them and look, but I don't buy anything. Too expensive, and they usually don't have what I want anyway. I do hope they make it through this, competition in the market place is a good thing for everyone.

[another view]

Just saw this ???
http://www.photographybay.com/2009/0...ng-bankruptcy/
Troy

I did a quick Google and can't find anyone else saying they didn't so it looks like they did... More tough news for Nikon; $14mil with Circuit City and $26mil with Ritz. Wonder what they'll get out of them (hint: not much).

[Dylan8i]

i have 2 ritz near me ( both on the same road, which i always thought was weird... not for long i bet) its really the only photo stores around, so id go there to look and buy some smaller stuff.... but they didn't have the nicer items (pro lens etc) that i wanted, said they could order them but would have been much much more expensive.

[E-Less]

I worked at Wolf after it was obtained by Ritz for 3 years. I have no love for them and did not enjoy working there because of the requirement of being a soulless good-for-nothing goon. I actually enjoyed the customers and running the lab but hated the company and upper management, if that makes any sense.

[jetrim]

There are some items that they can stay competitive with, but on most of the bigger ticket items, if they have it in stock at all, it's going to have a price tag that's 30% higher than the big internet places, and since I'm not making any real money off this hobby, I just can't justify spending that much more to have it right now vs 10am tomorrow morning by FedEx.

I understand why they have to charge more, a single mall space can run $20,000/month for the size of their stores, and free standing shops can have higher rent than that, this doesn't include utilities, wages or local advertising for each of those locations either, and these are all costs that B & H, Adorama, and others don't have to factor in when setting price points.

[GB1]

It hurts that they're hurting because I really like to see photo stores in general. A place that you can go and get advice, film (I still use it occasionally..), slide development (I get my Kodachrome developed through them), and prints.

But then reality sets in - they just can't compete with the B&Hs and Best Buys on price, and their milk cows of film and printing have taken big hits by digital.