Topic: Yes, I'm gonna whine again

[Francois]

Today I went into the big city. There was a sidewalk sale on the same street where my favorite camera store (read most accessible) is located.
What a disappointment!
If I was all excited yesterday with the prospect of going there to get a good deal and bringing back a few essentials, right now I feel burned sad and p***** off.

Usually, they have some tables outside selling frames, albums, and some odd accessories that are stuck in inventory. They also usually order some low priced  bags and tripods to attract customers. They also usually have a wheel of fortune that gives away small trinkets (last year I got a nice lab apron). But not this year.

This year, it was two employees under a tent offering stickers and balloons... period.
Inside, they were offering an 8% discount on everything in store to celebrate their 88^th anniversary... when you consider we have 15% tax here, it's not much of a deal.

Gear wise, I was looking for a small tripod for my ondu pinhole... I couldn't find anything cheaper than 120$.
I was looking for a yellow filter for my Fed... all I could find was some 80$ UV filters from B+W...
I looked at their usually fairly substantial but small Lomography counter... everything was at prices higher than at the Lomo website.
I looked at some of their film prices... and just looking felt like swallowing a horse chestnut with the spiky green cover still attached.
I looked at some of the lenses in display cases... who in the world needs a 14,000$ 800mm prime lens? I sure don't... my car isn't even worth that amount of money!

In the end, I got 4 rolls of HP5 (which they had mixed-up with some Delta400 in the same pile) at 6.99$ each and a bottle of PQ Universal for 10.99$...

That's friggin expensive in my book.

And now I'm back home... tired... sad and mad feeling like I've been had all the way...

They say "support your local merchants", but sheesh!

And that's not to mention the number of empty roadwork construction sites, endless rows of orange cones and wedding cakes (that's what we call the big round towers), countless potholes, insane traffic, dilapidated buildings (since I studied the building code, I'm more sensitive to this stuff), empty commercial spaces...

[John]

You could have got  a balloon and drawn a smiley face on it :-)

[John Robison]

Don't know what "most accessible" means to you but......
Around here there just ain't no camera stores. I could travel 60 miles (100 k) north to Seattle but the last time I visited Glazers the staff seemed bored and totally uninterested in some old guy with a ancient OM-1 slung over his shoulder. I left, unimpressed.

On a different note, I had an opportunity to make a short, but pleasant visit to Blue Moon Camera in Portland, Oregon (125 miles south) about 3 months ago. Interesting. More used film gear in one store than I've seen in 40 years, a good selection of darkroom material, happy staff and customers, young and old, all chatting about film photography and cameras. And here is the best part. Not one digital camera to be seen, anywhere. I felt I just had to support such an endeavor so I bought 2 rolls of Minox 8X11 film (Blue Moon can only buy the empty cartridges from Minox in Germany. They have to felt the cartridge and load them with film) so I did not mind the $20 each price. I can reload those cartridges many times. Think I'll make another trip someday just to visit and bask in the atmosphere of that place.

[Indofunk]

You could have got  a balloon and drawn a smiley face on it :-)

And then taken a picture of it!

[Jeff Warden]

Usually, they have . . . But not this year.

This year, it was  . . .

Francois, I would imagine their reduced participation means that they lost money at last year's event  and can't afford to do it again.  It's hard to justify the investment if you know your up-front expenses are going to kill your month or quarter.  It's a tough business I would imagine.

If they were making money with sales and a big sidewalk presence they would have every reason to invest in the event, but it sounds like this isn't happening for them.  It sounds like they're expected to participate though, so maybe this was the best they could offer?

[Francois]

I have no idea but it's one of only two camera stores in the entire region that cater to both professionals and amateurs and still carry film. The next closest one is a 2 hour drive. After that, there's one 3 hours away... not much choice there. That's why I'm concerned and disappointed about this.

Like John said about Glazers Photo, the staff wasn't like usual. Over the years, I've noticed that enthusiasm is slipping away. Staff turnover seems to accelerate as there were only 3 of their regular staff members that were there. Maybe the other ones were on break that day... I don't know.

In the old days, the sales people were really nice and fun at that store, especially when they were in their first building and the guys who took care of the professional's department on the 3rd floor were cracking jokes with customers and having a ball while being extremely knowledgeable about what they were selling... I don't want to fall in that good old days trap but it sure was nice.

I know the store spent a lot last year (or was it two years ago, I don't remember) to expand and create a whole new video dedicated space... something I still think was a bad business move considering the state of the economy... How many drones and hundred dollar mics can you sell in a week?

This has really left me scratching my head and asking myself a ton of questions.

[LEAFotography]

That's disappointing on a number of levels, and I'd like to hear your other questions Francois...

Maybe their lack of enthusiasm (for a range of reasons) made it difficult for them to be creative about the sales/promotion day, and if I was the manager I'd like to hear your feedback, as I bet you weren't the only one to be underwhelmed by the lack-lustre approach.  I'd be tempted to offer to help them sort through back room stuff kicking around for the next time. The new staff might not even think random bits might be useful to anyone, but that's often just the stuff we find useful?

Your story makes me feel pretty fortunate, living in a city with a reasonable used analogue gear store, 3 places that develop c-41 quickly, and 2 pretty good large scale car boot markets within 15 miles. I ought to pick up useful bits and store them up for cheap sale the next time there's a filmwasters' carboot sale, or would it be a 'garage sale'?

I'd still like to hear those other questions though...