tainkc Loc: Kansas City

What??? when is this supposed to happen? They are in kind of a hole in the wall location though.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

This sucks. I live right by Crick's and Overland Camera.

cameranut Loc: North Carolina

Yes! They do sell cameras online. I was searching for a Canon 80D and found one (new, not refurb) for an excellent price, sold and shipped by Cameta. I was very tempted to buy, even though it included a lot of cheap added products. I think it included everything but the finger to click the shutter button.
They tend to add a lot of "extras" that you don't need or already have, but the price was unbeatable. USA warranty.

Medoitham Loc: Haslet, Texas

I was at Sam's yesterday, no camera department.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

That is your choice, but not the majority of society. I you purchased a few million PS cameras a year from Walmart they would likely keep them in stock, you don't everyone else gets a phone. They need to seel something to stay in business so guess what happens.

Jim Plogger Loc: East Tennessee

My local Wal-Mart here in Maryville today. Several cameras in stock, No closeouts. A couple of sales. Girl in the photo department said they had more coming in.

(Download)

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

When Wal-Mart stopped carrying mirrorless, that's when I considered them "out of the camera business."

Jim Plogger Loc: East Tennessee

Not everybody wants a mirrorless camera do they? They have several "mirrorless" cameras but I didn't see any mirrorless SLR's.

Bill_de Loc: US

I checked online and found my local store has some point and shoot models available for pick-up. Everything else is sold by somebody else. At least one of those is a local brick and mortar store if you live on L.I., Cameta Camera.

So maybe in this case Walmart will direct some business to real camera stores.

--

Jim Plogger Loc: East Tennessee

My Wal-Mart only had 1 DSLR. It was a Canon Rebel. Most everything else was small point and shoot. There was nothing there for a serious photographer. But they had plenty of the P&S cameras.

Dan Downie Loc: Rochester, NY

Best Buy is also reducing their camera and gear inventories in many stores and creating a geographical hub at a single store with a large selection of cameras, lenses, etc.

Selene03

Ordinarily, I don't really pay a lot of attention to what cameras Big Box stores are selling, though I got a terrific deal years ago at Costco on a Nikon D600 with two pretty decent kit lenses. The people who run the local camera store act like they are doing you a favor by even acknowledging you are in the store, carry little of what I want or need, so I don't bother much with them. I needed a battery in San Francisco and saw a camera store and managed to buy a battery but only because I knew exactly what I wanted and could look at the battery case to find it myself. I buy almost everything from B and H because they will cheerfully discuss your needs with you and give you honest suggestions on what might most suit you. I did, however, recently buy a Canon 5D Mk IV from Best Buy because I wanted it for a couple of trips and BB was the only place that had them in stock or even expected to have them in stock in time for me.

What would I conclude: my father worked in a camera store his whole life. He really hated it when people would come in and spend hours talking to him about cameras and then go buy them at Target, etc (this was before Amazon and online sales). I suspect it might be hard for many in small stores to treat customers well because they expect they will waste a lot of time on a customer who will then buy online. But, by being rude or dismissive, it can drive customers away. My sense is that the only local camera stores that stay in business are those with really terrific customer service, and I know there are some that still exist! But they are becoming rare. The store my father worked for is still in business and offers additional classes and outings for those who buy cameras (something one local store I still buy from still does as well). As for the small cameras, point and shoots, I really do think that market is being killed by smartphones. Thus, it may not pay for a lot of places to keep them in stock. I was taking a visitor from another country around last week, who had just bought a point and shoot for his US trip--from B and H (loved the store where he got it, was impressed by the service he got there).

I hate seeing everything going to online shopping though I end up doing a lot of it, more for the service than anything else, as odd as that may seem.

Selene03

I do feel sorry for those who want an inexpensive camera in a small place where they are not available, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for such places to stay in business. Such stores seem much more widely available in Europe, and I thoroughly enjoyed my long conversation over buying a memory card in one in the Pyrenees last summer. The store is still there but the owner unhappily is forced to sell a lot of tourist stuff unrelated to photography because of the competition from Amazon.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

Blame Canon.

74images Loc: Los Angeles, California

Hell... Blame it on the Workaholics who don't have time, or to Deal with Parking or Hassles to Shop in a Store, or the Younger Generation who Rather She and More time on Their Computers or Tablets or Apple I Phones.

That's why Stores are Closing, & Mall's are Running Scared!

74images