Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Store size in square feet, if any, may have something to do with the difference.

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

I have lived in Simi Valley for the last 36+years and Thousand Oaks (neighboring city) 31 years before that.

It's not just Best Buy in Simi Valley, it is virtually every store in Simi Valley that sucks! We have the smallest Costco, smallest Walmarts, smallest Targets, most of the larger supermarkets are gone. This all started before COVID so you can't blame that.

Our local Costco stopped carrying cameras when Nikon stopped producing the smaller pocket cameras. Interesting that the Simi Valley Mall has 75% of its storefronts sitting unoccupied.

Is it relative that people are leaving California in droves? People with money are the ones leaving. Simi is affluent by most standards. There are on average 3-4 cars registered per household in Simi Valley.

If you want to go to a nice mall you need to drive either to Northridge 15+ miles away in LA County or 15 miles west to Thousand Oaks (T.O. Mall).

I have never been able to figure out why Simi (which in native American means "Valley of the Winds") built an open-air mall at the top of a hill in a location that gets blasted by wind. It is not conducive to shopping when the spit is getting blown out of your mouth. Bad vision by city planners.

Solution for me... I met a salesman/photographer named Jason who works at Samy's Camera in Pasadena. I met him when Hooper's Camera closed its doors a few years ago. Since meeting Jason I have bought thousands of dollars worth of Nikon equipment and other photo related stuff from him. He knows me by name, is friendly and I have introduced him virtually to other photographer friends. He has bought lenses from me at MPB and KEH rates with no haggling or hesitation. Granted Samy's is about an hour drive to Pasadena from Simi Valley on an average day but it has been worth it to me as they have the volume and selection. It also beats driving down to Samy's at Fairfax District in downtown L.A.

In closing it is not just Simi Valley, it is online buying that has killed big box store shopping as has supply chain issues. It has affected our local car lots horrendously in Simi Valley Auto Malls. All used cars with very few new ones waiting on the lots. I was going to buy a new Corvette and could never get a model parked in the showroom that I could sit in as they were all pre-bought, locked and on display waiting for the owner to come pick them up. So I wait to order out of State and drive it home from Kentucky! Bahhh Humbug.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The manager must be "a bad boy," and he's being punished.

The A6000 is OLD!

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I would suggest you drive to Levittown where Allen's Camera is located and enjoy the knowledge and availability of many camera and photo related products. Your true local store. As they say "Where the pros shop". A real gem!

Gort55 Loc: Northern Colorado

Same thing around here. We have two Best Buy stores within 20 miles. One
has a full camera department with the major brands and the other has very little
in the way of cameras.

One store also has a major Apple department and the other one doesn't. They
must vary based on demographics.

A "knowledgeable" salesperson at Best Buy told me that if I had the questions, he had the answers.
Just to test him I asked what the "S" was on the PASM dial. He said, "slow motion."

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

There are reasons why I've stopped buying in Best Buy, but it wasn't because of cameras, or lack there of. I've just grown more and more reliant in our one and only Total Camera Store. It's called Schillers, and the person care there is so outstanding. Aside from the new products, let me tell you of something you will not find in "Chain stores". I wanted to purchase a 100-400 L series lens for my Canon 5DII. A new one is rather expensive. By my regular sales man told me about the "Two Foot" concepts in boats. What? It's the wide practice that when anyone buys a boat, shortly after that, they want to trade it in for one that is 2 feet longer. Same with cameras and lenses. So, since he knew I wanted the Canon L series 100-400 lens, he told me that he will be watching out for on, just for me. Within a week, he called, told me to come in. What he told me was that there were two others that were traded in before "this one". The others were fine, but the one for me was actually in the original box and original wrappings. My cost was less than 50% of the 'new price'. Oh, I still had four weeks to use this lens, and if not satisfied, return it for full return value. THAT is what a local camera store can do for all of us.
Bill

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

How many cameras are on display at your local drug store? Best Buy is one of the original Big Boxes! They do not want to tie up merchandise display space for something that requires too much of that space. How many different models of their cameras do the major manufacturers make? Most camera stores I have frequented did not carry every model for any single brand. In today's market the iPhone has cornered a major portion of the audience so it is a camera also! Best Buy has a great selection of Apple products. The handwriting is on the wall, read it and weep! The single purpose camera is becoming a white elephant and is aimed at a very small market. The last camera store in which I actually purchased a camera was in Tokyo in 1972! The store was named "Pony's" and it was a big box electronics store, steroes, cameras, TV's. word processors, and calculators. Bought a Minolta SRT 102 and a 100mm Minolta telephoto lens and a tele-converter.. Total cost was $250.00 including a leather case. Hell of a good deal then, and not too bad today. Buying habits change with the times.

Bubbee Loc: Aventura, Florida

If you're in the Miami area, try my Best Buy here in Aventura! I got my last three Nikons (D80, D7100,Z50), SB800 flash,
numerous TV's, phones and a tablet. The staff is polite and knowledgeable!
(And the weather's great)

jlocke Loc: Austin, TX

This is from an article dated Feb. 9, 2023 from our local CBS station...

"Bed Bath & Beyond said Tuesday it will be shuttering 150 more stores as the beleaguered home goods chain cuts costs as it works to stay afloat."

"In early January, Bed Bath & Beyond warned that it may need to file for bankruptcy. A few weeks later, it said it was in default on its loans and didn't have sufficient funds to repay what it owes."

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/struggling-bed-bath-beyond-closing-14-in-texas-stores-150-nationwide

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

I was charged over $300. to return a Sony camera within the return time.

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

It's been years since I last was in a Bed, Bath & Beyond (Palm Springs, CA). Their prices were WAY too high!!!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

pdsdville Loc: Midlothian, Tx

It all comes down to management. Do you have a manager that sits on his butt and looks at figures or one that gets out and really does his job working with employees and customers? A good manager will closely oversee the hiring and training of employees. If the manager doesn't care neither do the employees. Unfortunately it travels up the chain of command in many cases. Remember the old saying about people being promoted to their level of incompetence. Then they are left there.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

In today's tolerated flash mob smash and grabs I would not be surprised to see Big Box Stores go by the wayside and become solely online providers like Amazon.

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

All quite true, but you left out another factor, which is just as important - if the market isn't there for the product, the store manager does not have the ability to create it!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City