I stopped at Linn Photo Monday to pick up a filter. Linn is one of two shops left here in Cedar Rapids. They have a new banner stretched across their sign that says: "A division or Porters Camera Inc.". Porters is a large and rather pricey chain based here in Iowa. Sad to see the local ownership go away but a little relieved to see that their doors will stay open for at least a while longer. Linn Photo is the store that told me how well they were doing just a few months ago. It was the one that I told you folks had actually added an additional film refrigerator.
The times, they are a changin'. (Fast) Don > -----Original Message----- > From: Mark Roberts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 3:17 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: The penny drops... > > > This Saturday will be the last day of business for the Squirrel Hill > Fotoshop here in Pittsburgh. It's actually survived several months > longer than I expected it would. The shop is a victim of many forces, > but the commoditization of camera gear, the boom in Internet sales and > the growth of the big chain stores (including office supply places and > electronic retailers now that cameras have become computer accessories) > played a big part in it, no doubt. It survived the last year on film > processing and that, as you well know, has dropped off precipitously in > the past year. > > I'll be frantically trying to finish up all the photo restorations we > have currently in house. I got several done today so I expect I should > be able to get the last ones finished by my last day, which will be this > Friday. > > So now greater Pittsburgh (population approx. 2 million) has exactly one > independent camera shop left, Bernie's Camera. There are, of course, > several Ritz Camera places in the shopping malls, but only a couple of > them carry any actual hardware. And as for any staff who can actually > tell you about mounting a Hasselblad lens on a Nikon (we really had > someone ask us about this a few months ago - told him about the Zorki > products) or some who knows anything about photography... > > On the bright side, this means we can depart early for GFM next > Wednesday! > > -- > Mark Roberts > Photography and writing > www.robertstech.com >
