<grin> My local store that does stock some decent Pentax gear always sends me out of the store with my stuff in a bag emblazoned with Nikon on it.
-- Best regards, Bruce Saturday, September 8, 2007, 5:05:40 PM, you wrote: YR> I'd support local shops if they carried my preferred manufacturer's products YR> including the brand-specific accessories. I would rather see what I'm buying YR> in person. I would prefer the instant gratification of walking in and YR> exchanging money for what I want. Waiting for the delivery truck is YR> agonizing. >snip YR> Here's the kicker: My purchases were placed in a large shopping bag YR> emblazoned with a picture of a huge Canon bearing the EOS logo. ARGH! Had YR> she heard nothing I said about a certain marketing behemoth? LOL YR> Yolanda >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 14:47 >> To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> Subject: Re: Sometimes it's hard to shoot Pentax >> >> > > "Well, I don't know anthing about it, I haven't read any of >> > > the reviews on it, and I don't make those decisions anyway >> > > the owner does. There's a lot of great gear out there that we >> > > don't carry." At that point he handed me the charge slip to >> > > sign and I took my yellow copy and left. >> > >> > One of the local dealers was telling me that no Pentax field sales >> > representative had been in to see them in several years. They're not >> > negative on the brand, they simply don't know what's going on or why >> > they haven't been contacted in so long. >> >> I would find that hard to believe. I knew Pentax's rep for Northern >> California >> (his territory was bigger than that and included other states, but I'm not >> sure >> exactly how big), and he was in at least every other month, sometimes more >> often if there was new stuff to show. >> >> I think (without having time to read more posts in this thread) that the >> reason >> Pentax is not better shown in shops is primarily because of marketing. >> I'm not >> just talking about advertisements, though. Canon and Nikon >> (KonicaMinolta, >> too, before they chickened out) both offer a lot of marketing materials, >> ad co- >> ops, and other benefits to dealers. Pentax never seemed to have much of >> that >> compared to the other guys. In this down market, if a camera dealer can >> get >> help from a company, he'll do whatever it takes to get it. I know this >> was the >> case at my previous employer, as well as at others. >> >> Plus, I think we all know Canon, Nikon, and Sony are the juggernauts here. >> Pentax is more like Leica, and since both sell a lot less than the other >> brands, relative profit is much lower. Dealers have to sell what makes >> them >> money on a consistant basis, and thus the smaller guys mostly get left >> out. >> >> It's all about profit, people. Camera shops are having tough times, so >> they do >> what it takes to make a profit. It's unfortunate for us Pentax users, but >> what >> can we do? >> >> Besides trying to buy from local shops, not a whole lot. >> >> John Celio >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
