camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

It is hard to deny the impact that Ebay and Amazon have had on local camera stores.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Youngstown Microfilm in the film days made their reputation developing football game films. used to take movie 16 mm to them after the game Saturday night and they had it the following Sunday afternoon.
after film died they reinvented themselves as YM. They are the largest camera store between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. They are very well stocked. Although I still prefer to do business with Campus Camera in Kent Ohio.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

They also put Toys or Us and Sears out of business. Along with many others.

Ron 717 Loc: Pennsylvania

Also just south of Pa’s border in Newark you can find Cameras Etc. on Main Street in Newark. Great photography shop with good prices. They will help you with your purchase and spend time explaining what ever you buy there. Good people.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, it is sad when a long-time store closes, but the online selection is infinite.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

I don’t think it’s a price factor since most camera prices are set by the manufacturers. It is more a factor of changing shopping habits. My millennial children would never consider going into a local store if they could purchase the same product online from their homes. Personally I prefer to see and hold the product before buying. And YM Camera in Youngstown, Oh can order me just about anything that I see online and provide me with their expertise.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

I don’t think Robby the owner’s son at YM Camera is anywhere near retirement. He’s at least 20 years younger than me and is a daily presence in the store.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

It’s just too expensive to run a single product line store where the margins are so thin.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

We are down to two in Central Florida (that I know of) Colonial Photo & Hobby has been around for a long time, and one called Harmon Photo (never been there). Long time family photo stores along the East Coast of FLA are all gone now, for all the reasons others have posted. Sad. We get waves of small business start-ups every so often in our area, but they never last, 2-4 years is a good run for most. Small businesses are a huge challenge these days, I wouldn't sink my money in one.....

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

Agreed. They rely on us to purchase from them. If we don’t we all lose. Being a small business owner has taught me that we all we all need to try first to do business locally. These small businesses provide local jobs and pump money into the local community. The BigGuys do not. And BTW prices are fixed in most cases on major items so the smaller shops sell at the same retail price as the big guys. And much of the sales tax paid goes back to the local economies.

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

Maybe it’s yet another brick and mortar being the sacrificial lamb for internet shoppers who want to look and feel at the store owner’s expense first, or worse, buy and return intentionally for their “free” trial before ordering on line. Or maybe there was no one interested in taking it over with a retirement around the corner. Between traditional stores and internet shipping centers it really is not a contest, especially during the long period before interstate sales tax enforcement was getting started. I am impressed by the stores that manage to offer both a mail-order operation and a traditional store at high levels of customer service.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Small store owners have to develop new ways of doing business - including workshops, used gear, Internet sales, and galleries/shows.

My little town of about 25,000 souls has a fantastic local shop, where I do almost all of my printing and processing, and buy new gear as well. They'll match prices and have a knowledgeable staff who are always willing to talk photography and cameras. They sponsor shows and workshops, and have a growing web presence. The owner is about 30 years old, BTW. Find them here:

https://monadnockimaging.com/

Three towns over (and in an even smaller town) there's another great shop, who merged with the local copy shop / shipping center in 2017 to expand their line. Very big on free and low cost classes, they're another great place to shop.

http://peterboroughcamera.com/index.html

And finally, fifteen miles down the road and on the Vermont side of the river in Brattleboro is the Vermont Center for Photography. Run as a non-profit, they feature a small gallery and darkroom rentals. The Director, Josh, has also put together a shop featuring used gear that is full of everything from books to Brownies to Bronicas. They have an enlarger adoption program, offering enlargers to those who'll use them for the price of a donation of any size to the Center (I think you have to pick it up yourself, sorry folks from away). Last week I bought an immaculate Leica zoom finder for the bargain price of $50. I'm going there this afternoon - it's like Disneyland for me! Check out some of the rides here:

http://photothrift.org/

Three different stores in three different towns that are less than an hour apart from east to west on the same road. They've all chosen different methods to make them special, and they're all succeeding, despite the big boxes and online retailers. The clientele at all three skews decidedly millennial as well, so I think there's hope for the future!

Andy

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

In business “you need to change in order to remain the same.” First thing I learned in Retail Marketing 101. Stores still in business adapt. Those out of business failed to adapt.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Exactly! Repeating failed models is not the road to success.

See my post above for three real life examples that are succeeding. They're all in small towns but not far from the big box competition in larger cities. Creative proprietors, who have beaten the odds with innovation and service.

Andy

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

And at the lowest price.