wthomson Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Agree completely. It also affects state and local governments' ability to fund needed services. Plus, many times you have to find federal money or matching grants, which in turn usually necessitates accepting federal priorities that may be quite different from local needs. Unfortunately, there is no longer any local camera store to handle my business.

Coffee for me as well! :thumbup:

RobertW Loc: Breezy Point, New York

I bought my (Used) Leica M6 there and it's still my favorite camera---

RobertW Loc: Breezy Point, New York

BTW---in NY we have B&H and Adorama, and for online---can't beat KEH, however for LOCAL flavor, visit Southeastern Camera in Carrboro, North Carolina, which I always visit, patronize when visiting daughter in Chapel Hill----

Oly Guy

In Minneapolis the main shop with maybe 8 stores is National Camera-with very qualified senior and middle age sales staff. Great knowledge level- they will match KEH etc for trade ins -staying pretty strong. Good used supply of cameras lenses etc. Love the place!

ClutchDisk Loc: Fayetteville, NC

Have no local camera stores in Fayetteville, NC. Queen City or research triangle in NC is the closest camera stores around 2 to 3 hours away. If you buy lets say from Amazon you will be charged NC state tax if you reside in NC including shipping and handling. Unless you want to drive the 2 or 3 hours. Wolf camera moved out 10 or so years ago. Not sure why. Ft. Bragg is right here with a very large active population. Guess there ain't a need. Wish there was though just one honest to goodness camera store close.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Up here in Minnesota we have National Camera Exchange in Golden Valley and two other suburbs and West Photo in Minneapolis in the lower northeast-side. Both very good.

bjprovo Loc: Northeast CT

It was thanks to UHH a casual mention of a local camera store led me to find a place relatively close. Photo Connection in Colchester CT has everything I need at prices very close to the large online retailers. The people are very helpful and friendly and run a local camera club with numerous trips and ideas for photo opportunities. I know people like and enjoy dealing online, but give me the face to face interaction every time.

ExTech2

We all should utilize our local camera shop. I live about 80 miles from Schillers in St Louis but have relied on them since 1967 for honest answers and top quality products at fair prices. They also have great web service, too.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Lots of small businesses have and are giving way to the big box places and people like Amazon.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Two here that come to mind. Foto Forum in Phoenix and Tempe Camera and Repair in nearby Tempe which is the larger of the two and offers more services and products, but IMO, the knowledge resides with the owner and staff at the former.
Vanishing? Yes, we have lost Ritz, Kits, and a couple of exceptional photo labs within the past 10 years.

carl hervol Loc: jacksonville florida

Here in Jacksonville fl there all gone . mail order killed them stay home order what you what ,don't waste gas pay no tax ,that saves a lot of money.

twowindsbear

Murphy's. Camera in Lexington KY. is also a good store that's been around for ages & ages.

And, KY residents are required to list all out of state 'mail order' purchases on their state income tax return and pay the 6% sales tax along with their income tax. Don't other states have a similar policy?

radiomantom Loc: Plymouth Indiana

One of the greatest, bought several cameras, lenses and accessories from them. They knew there products and were great to deal with.

Sheila Loc: Arizona or New York

Would love to be able to buy from local store but the two stores near my home do not carry what I want to buy. They carry basic cameras and lenses but for everything I want to buy one store requires half payment with order and often a long wait while they accumulate enough items to order. Once I waited 6 months. When I decided to wait no longer, they wanted me to use up my downpayment to purchase items from the store. I did this but it was the last thing I ever ordered through them.

Now when I visit my daughter in the Indianapolis area, I visit Roberts. They have two locations and a huge inventory with knowledgable clerks. I have been to Tempe Camera in AZ. They were very good on a repair I needed as well as having a well supplied store.

OldEarl Loc: Northeast Kansas

The store where I worked closed in 2002 because the traffic was not there and most of the equipment was 15 percent higher than the mail-order firms out of NYC and Oregon. Our net margin on services and equipment was about one percent. This is about the same as B&H but our annual cash inflow was less than fifty Grovers whereas B&H and Adorama have more than a million coming in every year. The kid whose dad owned the two stores finally got married and tired of his hobby so the main store went on the block about a year later.

When I was in college, our town had two thriving photo stores and a couple private EPOI dealers. But times have changed over the last half century and I have to drive to Topeka or Kansas City to find a store still operating--there are fewer than there used to be. Wolfe's in Topeka is one that has adapted as a locally owned store though the people I worked with have mostly retired.

It is not just camera stores. Our town had five hardware and two real sporting goods stores downtown in the 60s. One hardware store remains. We also have one True Value that managed to adapt and has a strong clientele. We have three local bookstores each filling a niche.

For outdoor equipment I can visit one local store and pay more--in some instances I choose to do this because I was one of the original customers and there is nostalgia. But they do not carry hunting or fishing gear so I have to go out of town to find Cabelas, Bass Pro or REI--my other option is the internet.

And the internet is a strong presence. I can talk to Wolfe's and they can have my film in in a week or I can go to the B&H website and have it in three days.

And I have no answers.