ronpier wrote:
That’s the American Way. Buy cheap, throw away when it breaks, send your money to Red China.
Just last week, my next door neighbor, had a trailer
full of homeware and some good
timber... he told me he was taking it to the tip... and added "I like throwing things out". WTF!
I said I could use the timber, and he happily gave it to me.
Very sad. I lived in the Nashville area (Brentwood) for 10 years. I visited their store almost every month during that time. Their employees were always knowledgeable and courteous. I spent a lot of money there.
Safety is in the eye of the beholder.
This breaks my heart. Camera shops, clothing stores, woodworker store, book stores, ...
COVID-19 is the straw that broke the camel's back but it's online sales that are killing brick and mortar. People find what they want in a store, then order it online, usually from Amazon. Nothing against Bezos, I'm sure it's nice to be the richest person in the world, but I need to see and touch what I'm buying to understand if it's what I want/need.
I've made a commitment to pay the extra at a local store so that I can continue to get to see and touch what I'm buying, and get real info from a knowledgeable salesperson both before and after the sale. This is especially important for photography and woodworking.
We're shooting ourselves in the foot when we buy online and then don't have a local store for advice and trying things out. We don't get what we don't pay for.
This is so sad on so many levels. The unfortunate part is that the closing of photography stores started some time ago. The situation today has just put the final pressure on all the businesses struggling to compete with online sellers. How nice it used to be to be able to go in to a photography store and hold a camera in hand, play with it a bit and get the advice and opinions of the pros behind the counter. As good as B&H is, it just isn't the same. 🙁
Bigmike1
Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.
Too bad. I'm afraid that our economy is going to be down for quite a while because of this pandemic. Hopefully it will recover quickly.
Abo wrote:
Just last week, my next door neighbor, had a trailer full of homeware and some good
timber... he told me he was taking it to the tip... and added "I like throwing things out". WTF!
I said I could use the timber, and he happily gave it to me.
Just got back to US from 2 months in Sydney. Have to say, you have your s*it together.
They jumped on the virus, locked it down. Sufficient testing (ok, except for the Ruby Princess). Politicians not afraid to make the tough decisions. Science, not wishful thinking. Mandatory quarantine for arriving visitors in govt paid hotels. Now they can safety reopen in stages (granddaughter back in school).
Only reason I left ( besides expiring visa) was figured it'd be better to get back home and shelter in place before the masses were out and about.
Will definitely return after I get vaccinated. Congrats on a well run country.
Abo wrote:
It looks like the end of "Target" down here too.
But you still have Woolworths. .
Several "Large" photo stores are closing..... The Alaska Camera Shop in Fairbanks is closing. It very likely was the largest photo store in all of Alaska
In our area, Minneapolis, a venerable family-run photo business, National Camera Exchange, announced the closure of their Roseville outlet. Now just one store. Two years ago they closed their Edina outlet. For our area, they are a non-essential business, hope they can weather covid.
I took my first photo class at Dury’s over 40 years ago when I was on my first job out of college and had to take some photos. Just a couple of years ago I had to take my gear in to get it cleaned up after an accident with two bags of concrete in the back of my SUV. They were my go to place for sure. They had been in business for over 100 years
jmh-Orlando wrote:
The photographic industry will be losing another resource, caused indirectly by the Covid pandemic.
I received an EMail from Charles Small, President/CEO of Dury's this afternoon. This well established used camera equipment and photo printing lab company in Nashville will be closing for good in the very near future.
In his announcement EMail, Mr. Small said: "After very careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to close our doors for good. This is something that when I started working for this company in 1991 I never in a million years thought I would ever be doing. In the last eight weeks I have seen our business and lives turned upside down. I have spent countless hours working with advisers and thinking through every angle I could. I have consulted with our board of directors and accountants. Unfortunately, closure was the decision that we reached".
They are referring customers to Roberts Camera, and their UsedPhotoPro subsidiary.
The photographic industry will be losing another r... (
show quote)
Very sorry to hear this. We are losing so many smaller (no pun intended), good companies. Very sad.
I was watching KQED the other night and I think they said that 30/40 years ago there were some 10 to 15000 camera stores throughout the US now there's less than 300
11bravo wrote:
Just got back to US from 2 months in Sydney. Have to say, you have your s*it together.
They jumped on the virus, locked it down. Sufficient testing (ok, except for the Ruby Princess). Politicians not afraid to make the tough decisions. Science, not wishful thinking. Mandatory quarantine for arriving visitors in govt paid hotels. Now they can safety reopen in stages (granddaughter back in school).
Only reason I left ( besides expiring visa) was figured it'd be better to get back home and shelter in place before the masses were out and about.
Will definitely return after I get vaccinated. Congrats on a well run country.
Just got back to US from 2 months in Sydney. Have ... (
show quote)
Yeah, Sydney is magnificent. Imho NSW is administrated much much better as well
than where I am in Victoria... but I was born here (Swanston St. Melbourne) so it's home.
Thanks for the kind words about my country.
Alan.
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.