shackcf

In the St. Louis area we had 2 locals Creve Couer Camera and Schillers. We also have Diversified Lab that sell supplies.

Creve Couer camera had 10 stores and has closed them all and the owner (Steve Weiss) decided to reopen as St. Louis School of Photography. He refers everyone to Schillers for cameras etc. I bought 2 Nikons and extra lens from CCC but he could not compete with the online merchandising even though he matched pricing. Overhead was part of it. I will say he had much more fun taking pics and is still having a good time running classes, photo trips & walks.

gtilford Loc: Woodstock, Ontario, Canada

The speed issue was actually not Canada Post or the border but Henry's themselves. I would go into the London store which is a 30 minute drive away. If I wanted something used or not in stock it would take over a week for that item to come from one of the Toronto stores where the used item was sitting. Finally just gave up and drove the 2 hours to Toronto and picked said items up myself.

camshot Loc: Peterborough ontario Canada

I live in Peterborough Ontario, and have to go to Oshawa 1 hours drive to get to a Henrys store, which is no real problem. We have a Bestby, but the selection is bad, display sloppy, and no knowledgeable staff.
London Drugs in the west have the best camera selection and prices, wish they were further east. It seems everything is going Amazon, buy on line, but I agree with one other repliers, I like to see and handle what I purchase. The retailers like Amazon, offer no bargains even though they have no store front. They do give one or two days delivery which is why they are doing so good. Large stores like B&H in the U.S. do a tremendous online business and are reliable, but our dollar doesn't help us.

Vlemasters

We just lost a good store in Paducah Ky, Central Photo and Video. I had all my printing done there. When they closed I bought a pro100 canon printer. Sure do miss them. They asked me to set up a display of my photos in their window for several months. That was at the time I was just getting back into photography again and I was pleasantly surprised by their request

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

Interesting juxtaposition in general chit chat. First a rant on how upset people are with Amazon for taking too long to deliver products. Then a conversation bemoaning the loss of brick and mortar camera shops that have been put out of business because everybody wants to buy online to save a couple bucks.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Oh, I hear 'ya. Fact is, commercial products have their heyday, and then they pass on. There are no longer blacksmith shops in every town, or businesses for hand painting signs for store fronts -- another fine skill-based business that is all but forgotten. It happens. And in their wake are massed produce products of plastic, in both examples it turns out.

Fotoserj Loc: St calixte Qc Ca

Shit, a couple months ago Henry’s bought but one if not rhe biggest store in Montreal, Lozeau on st Hubert st, and now there folding down, the only restriction I had with Lozeau was parking, next to impossible Short of that up to about 5 years ago it was THE place to shop in Montreal

Horatio

AzGriz, it is wonderful that someone else knows of this camera store!!! Thank you for sharing this tidbit about your doing business with them. I assume you were living in Anchorage? Do you have any old photographs that you would love to share of your Alaska adventures?

Do you still give them any business?

pendennis

Normally, I would say that we do have better than normal postal services. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly doesn't help anywhere.

I ordered a Series VI adapter ring for one of my LF lenses from eBay. The seller shipped the next day, April 6. I received it today, a mere 28 days, and an inquiry on my part.

As a side note, one of the more efficient systems seems to be that of Great Britain. I've bought several cameras from British sellers, and they've been delivered in less than 7 days, counting customs.

AzGriz Loc: Sedona, Arizona

I lived there from '71 to '86 and had a business account with the Stewart's. Have several thousand Alaskan photos, both scenic and business, in color and black and white. Most of the color are transparencies in 35mm, 6 x 7 and 4 x 5. I haven't done business with them since I left in '86.

Horatio

If you ever want to part with those transparencies, the University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Special Collections, would be most happy to put them to good use.

It would be terrific to see any airplane images from that time period.

If you ever need any additional camera gear, why not give them a call.

AzGriz Loc: Sedona, Arizona

What airplanes are you interested in? Military, commercial or bush planes?

I am not in the market for purchasing gear, but instead need to start selling.

happy sailor Loc: Ontario, Canada

Hi Rusty, hopefully Henry’s comes out of this restructuring a little bit stronger than they were. Too many stores meant too much inventory sitting in them costing money. I heard they are going to try and grow their online profile but at present they have too many “special order” items that must be prepaid and cannot be cancelled. Don’t think that will fly too well. B&H is good and cross border ships on many products their prices are usually competitive even with the exchange. I bought my Wacom tablet from them and is was worthwhile and arrived in three days. But I agree our dollar is in the dumper know and after this Prime Minister finishes sinking us in debt I don’t foresee any relief there anytime soon. I think we will be paying more for everything.

Bestbuy here is terrible as far as photography items. The ink supplier in Montreal that I used to use shipped Canpar courier and you would have it in 1 or 2 days, but switched to Canada Post which slowed deliveries down. I still use them for toner cartridges but for my Pro 100 inks (I use Canon only after losing a printhead on my last one due to third party ink) I use whichever store is the most reasonable at the time.

Vistek in downtown Toronto is still a great camera stores with very knowledgeable staff and helpful too. I shop the Henry’s stores in Newmarket and Barrie, I think they are staying put and not identified in the 7 that are closing.

However, enjoy what you do have and keep shooting.

camshot Loc: Peterborough ontario Canada

For ink try CCBC 7 Labatt Ave Toronto. very polite and fast, and they carry a lot of papers and inks.

Bear2 Loc: Southeast,, MI

Unfortunately Camera Mart closed, where l purchased all my cameras and equipment. Number One/Two best camera stores in Michigan.