Model Starr Photography wrote:
Are you guys experiencing a similar trend in your small/mid sized cities?

Not where I live on Long Island, NY.

Model Starr Photography wrote:
I live in mid-sized town and the only local owned store that sold Znikon gear no longer does. Employees and owner there, says Nikon stopped using them as a licensed retailer with no explanation. Mind you, this store has been a Nikon reseller for at least 30 years. Are you guys experiencing a similar trend in your small/mid sized cities? Just wondering.

The story could be true.

Or, it could be a good story by a store that is having increasing difficulty paying its bills or meeting minimum ordering quanties or, or, or..... And Nikon simply said "bye"......

Digitoxin wrote:
Or, it could be a good story by a store that is having increasing difficulty paying its bills or meeting minimum ordering quanties or, or, or..... And Nikon simply said "bye"......

That's probably the case... a store that couldn't compete with the internet or a local Best Buy...

Sourcelight Photography wrote:
The trend I'm noticing is the virtual disappearance of professional camera stores.  There's exactly one left here, and it's closed 2 of its 4 locations in the past two years.  They're still carrying low-end Nikon gear, but they haven't carried the pro cameras (D3/4) or even the semi-pro (D300/700/800) series for almost 5 years.  Their claim is that Nikon forces them to carry more of the high-end gear in inventory than they can sell, so it's no longer worth it for them to stock it.

Photography is one of those industries that has been severely affected by the on-line digital revolution.  Dedicated photography shops rightfully complain that buyers come into the store to handle the merchandise, ask a lot of questions, and then leave to buy their gear on-line or at a discount house, and they're not getting any of the protection from the OEMs that they used to count on.  I was shocked to see the D600 at the local Costco last week; this is a camera that Nikon would have restricted to photo-only retailers in the past.  Tough for a local camera store to compete with WalMart, Best Buy, or Costco on price, particularly when the customers aren't showing any loyalty or respect for the information they get from the camera store but don't expect from a discounter.  They've always dealt with this kind of competition from the mail-order box houses, but those of us who just like to buy local would take our business to our local camera dealer.  That's no longer necessary, and the dealers are feeling the pinch from every direction.


BTW, in answer to your question, Nikon will indeed cancel a license if the dealer can't meet inventory/sales minimums, and in this economy, it's tough for ANY business to meet reasonable sales expectations.  Several years back, when the D3 was released, I went to the local dealer for a presentation put on by the traveling Nikon rep.  She pulled me aside and told me that the local dealer was not going to be allowed to sell the D3, and then proceeded to give me the names of several other dealers in the region who WOULD still be carrying it.  The whole issue was the number of cameras that the dealers were willing to order up front.

Thanks for writing so well.

GreatMomentsPhotography wrote:
There is one mom and pop store I know in town. Their prices just don't compete with the internet and yet along the stock at hand. Best Buy is the other retailer which is a couple of miles away. Its prices too cannot compete tho they have a price matching thing going. Also I did not see a D800 or even a D600. All were crop sensor cameras.The only thing I see they got going is that you can actually try these cameras before buying them.

Best Buy here in little old Daytona did have the D600, not sure if they do now. But unfortunately, if you want any form of gear in Daytona, you have to travel to Orlando, Tampa or Jacksonville.

Robert Helm wrote:
The figure I heard years ago was that half of all camera sales in the US was done by five retailers. Today I would guess the % is much higher.

Add in minimum annual buy ins and setting high number of pieces to get the best price I can see it getting harder and harder for a small dealer to compete.

B&H, Adorama, Amazon and.... Calumet has been on the ropes for a while now so I doubt they are in the top 5. Best Buy COULD be with all the low end stuff the sell. Who am I missing? Locally in SoCal Samy's is big and is where I get most of my stuff. But I have no idea if their web sales are high volume. Down here in OC there is ProPhoto as well. They carry everything but their appeal is mostly rental and used equipment. Another called Cal's Camera went out of business recently but then I called them a list plus dealer. High prices combined with low inventory finally killed them I guess. But mostly it's just the internet. Nikon is one dealer that TRIES to control prices. A dealership can lose their authorization if they discount their Nikon ware. Canon doesn't seem to care much about that. Free trade and all I guess.

Sourcelight Photography wrote:
The trend I'm noticing is the virtual disappearance of professional camera stores.

Not really. The problem is that the old time stores are unable to adapt to modern times.

Here in Vegas, we used to have three major stores. Sahara Camera, B&H, and Casey's Cameras. Sahara Camera had to move a few years ago because they just never found their niche. They move to a smaller storefront and they do mediocre business. Quite frankly, I'd be surprised if they were even open through the end of 2013.

Next is Casey's. Casey's has been in Vegas for years and years. They used to be the big guys in town. Many of the staff there are photography instructors and they have a pretty big selection. Not great, but good. Slowly but surely, the Internet has taken them down. Now, when you go in there, the inventory is half of what it was two years ago and all the old geezers do there is bitch and moan about how the Internet isn't fair and how they can't compete, blah blah blah. The store looks old and tired. They are nice guys, but they don't have a clue how to market a business, even one with a very captive audience like Las Vegas. Again, I'd be shocked if they were around this time next year. It's sad, but it's their own fault.

Lastly is B&C. This used to be a small camera store but was bought out by a commercial photographer a few years ago. They put a lot of money into the business and they have expanded twice in the last few years, most recently into a store over twice the size of where they used to be. The place is clean, looks professional, and they carry a ton of inventory. They rent all sorts of lenses now and if you need it, they've got it. The place is managed by working photographers who really know what they are talking about. They teach workshops there and the place is always packed. Most importantly though, they actually are willing to spend money to make money. They actually run big billboards around town, have fliers in the different hotels so they not only cater to locals but tourists as well. They're sharp, and they are making really good money, and deserve every penny.

The problem is, it's adapt or die, and many of the old-time camera guys never moved out of the "good ol' days".

Sourcelight Photography wrote:
Photography is one of those industries that has been severely affected by the on-line digital revolution.  Dedicated photography shops rightfully complain that buyers come into the store to handle the merchandise, ask a lot of questions, and then leave to buy their gear on-line or at a discount house, and they're not getting any of the protection from the OEMs that they used to count on.  I was shocked to see the D600 at the local Costco last week; this is a camera that Nikon would have restricted to photo-only retailers in the past.

You're mistaken, the D600 is purposely aimed at the consumer market. Its the entry level full-frame.

Shot By Adam wrote:
Lastly is B&C. This used to be a small camera store but was bought out by a commercial photographer a few years ago. They put a lot of money into the business and they have expanded twice in the last few years, most recently into a store over twice the size of where they used to be. The place is clean, looks professional, and they carry a ton of inventory. They rent all sorts of lenses now and if you need it, they've got it. The place is managed by working photographers who really know what they are talking about. They teach workshops there and the place is always packed. Most importantly though, they actually are willing to spend money to make money. They actually run big billboards around town, have fliers in the different hotels so they not only cater to locals but tourists as well. They're sharp, and they are making really good money, and deserve every penny.

The problem is, it's adapt or die, and many of the old-time camera guys never moved out of the "good ol' days".

These guys know whats going on. You have to offer the social aspect like the Apple store to get people to come in. People see it as a value. Something like 60% of people buy a car based on how they liked the "dealer experience" rather than the actual performance of the car.

Shot By Adam wrote:
Not really. The problem is that the old time stores are unable to adapt to modern times.

Here in Vegas, we used to have three major stores. Sahara Camera, B

Yingwah Productions wrote:
You're mistaken, the D600 is purposely aimed at the consumer market. Its the entry level full-frame.

Apparently so.  That's not been true of previous 3-series cameras, like the D200 or D300 which, to my knowledge, never appeared in discount houses other than the mail-order/Internet box houses like B&H and Adorama.  My point is that Nikon didn't used to "aim (this level of camera) at the consumer market."

Sourcelight Photography wrote:
Undoubtedly true in some cases; not even remotely applicable in others.  Such incredibly naive arrogance is actually kind of amusing.

It's not a matter of naivete, it's a matter of having business sense and not having business sense. Sorry, but Idaho is not exactly a mecca for high technology sales. It just isn't, so unless you can adapt your business llama to the local market, it's inevitable that  you are going to die.

Shot By Adam wrote:

It's not a matter of naivete, it's a matter of having business sense and not having business sense. Sorry, but Idaho is not exactly a mecca for high technology sales. It just isn't, so unless you can adapt your business model to the local market, it's inevitable that  you are going to die.

And you're still missing the point that you usually miss in these discussions.  As you finally acknowledge, Idaho is not a "mecca of high technology sales," but neither are most places in the country.  There are a LOT of places in fact where the Internet has made it impossible to "adapt your business model to the local market," because the local market is too small to support upsizing the business or introducing superfluous marketing bells and whistles just to lure non-existent customers through the doors.  Those customers are gone forever, and since, unlike your locale, most places don't have a billion visitors every few months who stream through local businesses with the express intent of blowing lots of money on non-essential items without regard to price, it's insulting to suggest that smart business people who have faithfully served their local markets for generations in some cases are just too stupid, uncreative, or downright lazy to "adapt" to a local market you don't have a clue about.  Most of us have no particular interest in moving to Las Vegas, so implementing the marketing "adaptations" that you seem to think are universally applicable really isn't a useful option.  I suspect that in most small markets, legitimate camera dealers WILL die out, as I said in my first post, and it won't have anything to do with their lack of entrepreneurial competence or ingenuity.

R Michael Walker wrote:
B&H, Adorama, Amazon and.... Calumet has been on the ropes for a while now so I doubt they are in the top 5. Best Buy COULD be with all the low end stuff the sell. Who am I missing? Locally in SoCal Samy's is big and is where I get most of my stuff. But I have no idea if their web sales are high volume. Down here in OC there is ProPhoto as well. They carry everything but their appeal is mostly rental and used equipment. Another called Cal's Camera went out of business recently but then I called them a list plus dealer. High prices combined with low inventory finally killed them I guess. But mostly it's just the internet. Nikon is one dealer that TRIES to control prices. A dealership can lose their authorization if they discount their Nikon ware. Canon doesn't seem to care much about that. Free trade and all I guess.

The big NY stores may be "on the ropes" but that was always the case with some of them declaring bankrupcy every 7 years like clockwork. Canon and Nikon et al would take multimillion $$ right offs and be back taking orders the next day. They were too big to fail 30 years before the term existed.

Most mfgrs have Minimum Advetised Price programs where if you advertise below a MAP price you didnot get the ad allowance.

At one time Phila had a dozen independent camera shops, some with five or more locations. Now there are two or three mostly in the suburbs. Local stores live and die on photofinishing. That market does not exist anymore and that was where the profit was.

Mike Colwell Photograph wrote:
The local Mom & Pop here lost Nikon also. He could not meet the minimum annual sales requirement.

That's what a local store owner here told me. He was a Nikon dealer for over 20 years.

Mike Colwell Photograph wrote:
The local Mom & Pop here lost Nikon also. He could not meet the minimum annual sales requirement.

Nikon is short sighted if they have the same business requirements for the mom and pops as they do for the big electronic retailers. I wonder what the requirement is for Canon. Nikon, based on sales, is still number 2 to Canon. Cutting out mom and pop stores is not going to help their sales . Photography is about as niche' as you can get in business. I appreciate being able to go to my local store and picking up knowledge and accessories for my passion. Too bad.

Model Starr Photography wrote:
I live in mid-sized town and the only local owned store that sold Nikon gear no longer does. Employees and owner there, says Nikon stopped using them as a licensed retailer with no explanation. Mind you, this store has been a Nikon reseller for at least 30 years. Are you guys experiencing a similar trend in your small/mid sized cities? Just wondering.

Update:
This local store is now selling Canon exclusively. Before, you could get bodies, kits, lenses and accessories for Nikon or Canon.  Canon must have a significantly different business structure for their retailers. Too bad for Nikon. (I'm a Nikon shooter).

maybe they are on credit hold.  Stores are not going to admit to stuff like that.

Sourcelight Photography wrote:
Photography is one of those industries that has been severely affected by the on-line digital revolution.  Dedicated photography shops rightfully complain that buyers come into the store to handle the merchandise, ask a lot of questions, and then leave to buy their gear on-line or at a discount house, and they're not getting any of the protection from the OEMs that they used to count on.

I had a lot of respect for a boss I had years ago.  I worked for KAMAN Industrial Technologies.  Industrial supplier.  KAMAN also had a KAMAN Music branch that owned all kinds of various popular brands like Ovation and I think Ziljian.  I think my discount was 40%.  He would tell us to NOT GOING INTO A MUSIC STORE AND WASTE A SALESPERSON'S TIME just to come back and order from work with out discount.

I think it's crappy to KNOW you're NOT going to do business with someone and pick their brains etc.

That's why I don't test drive every Mustang that comes our.  Unless I'm ready to buy a car, I'm not going to waste their time.

Model Starr Photography wrote:
I live in mid-sized town and the only local owned store that sold Nikon gear no longer does. Employees and owner there, says Nikon stopped using them as a licensed retailer with no explanation.

I suspect that this is not a nationwide or worldwide policy.  It can be something as simple as this particular store hasn't been selling enough Nikon products to make it worth Nikon's while.

So, maybe it's your fault. 

Camera retail is very difficult.  It's difficult local stores to complete with the Internet on price.  Lots of customers go into the store, put their hands on the product, say "I'll think about it", and then order it from the Internet.