Rob's right, but it goes way beyond that.
Actually the major falsity of the local camera store is the idea that you can actually get all that great information there. While some of the salespeople actually are photographers, most are just like sales jerks, sorry, clerks (I used to be one) every where. Warm bodies hot off the street working for not much pay and basically with out a clue. The owners of the stores are investors who are trying to get the maximum return on the dollar.
Nothing wrong with that, but lets not wax poetic about it. It has been long time since I have been in a photo store run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. Unfortunately those guys usually are not great businessmen and can not compete in the modern market. And if they become great businessmen then the store is no longer the place where we want to hang out. The reason they don't have the stuff we love to fondle there is because it is not high turnover and it takes a large part of their inventory dollar away from the high turnover stuff. Not stocking that MZ-S or *istD is just good business.
I admit there are a few of those great old stores still about, but it used to be any town of at least 10K people had at least one such store. Now if you are lucky you get Wal-Mart, et al. Mostly it is a case of waxing nostalgic rather than admitting reality. I would rather support the mail order specialty stores that are selling the stuff I want and need, than a local store that is not even willing to order it for me.
Of course if you have a local store providing what you want and need at fair prices, why not give them your business. But lets not pretend that the folks on this list are just too cheap to shop there.
One could write a whole book about this, but it would still come out about the same. Small operations just do not have the buying power to compete in the consumer market. You either cater to the luxury trade or you go out of business. But then you have to have the capital to sit on those slow moving expensive items you are selling. I guess it always comes out in the end that simple answers are by their very nature, incomplete.
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Rob Studdert wrote:
On 23 Jul 2004 at 18:57, Jerry Todd wrote:
That's because consumers want to shop for the lowest price at any cost to the community. Unless one supports local businesses, those businesses will disappear.
Before you go blaming the shoppers/the thrifty/the list members etc do a little investigation as to where your savings/super are invested and have a think about what is driving the folio mangers to place the money where they do. Globalization and amalgamation will swallow up all small business at some stage. It's the behaviour the society we have created promotes and we have to deal with its consequences. Shopping at some little camera store isn't going to delay the inevitable appreciably.
-- graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com/graywolf.html
