Last edited Sun Nov 27, 2022, 02:17 PM - Edit history (1)
...when i was growing up (in the 70s) i don't remember big box retailers carrying cameras, and if they did (say sears or JCP), the selection was tiny and some models might have even been branded especially for the retailer (sears did this on all kinds of merchandise). i bought my first cameras and all gear from central camera in downtown chicago. it was a typical downtown specialty retailer; it looked like it hadn't been remodeled since the days of al capone and it was disorganized, crowded and unfriendly (all the inventory was stacked up half-way to the ceiling behind the douche-baggy, impatient salesmen on the other side of the counter), but that's the type of place where people went for camera gear. later, smaller photo stores starting popping up in malls, but they didn't seem to cater to pros or advanced hobbyists...their selection was limited mainly to entry level cameras and 3rd party lenses...most of their revenue, i imagine, came from processing film and printing. i also remember full-page, black and white ads in the backs of magazines for places like "abe's of main" and the like, with prices substantially lower than the real photography retail stores and with little or no fine print regarding the fact that they sold only gray market gear or any explanation at all of what gray market gear even was.
now pricing doesn't seem to be controlled by retailers anymore. amazon prices on new gear are the same as best buy and the same as even the most crotchety, stuck-up downtown specialty stores...which is why i only buy from real photography stores (even if they're stuck up and crotchety) rather than supporting big chains. while i'm not looking at the same industry rags i did in the 70s, i'm not seeing any kind of gray market ads anymore.
i guess the manufacturers set the MSRP now and all the sellers must toe the line. that is good for we the consumers, i think.
regarding central camera back in the day, here is a more recent photo (the nikon D300 musta been the big seller at the time of the photo) of what it looked like from the outside. IMHO, the storefront windows were the best part of the store...i'd stand out there for 20 minutes studying all the items in the window which included museum quality antique equipment mixed in with unboxed display models of the discontinued or sales items for that week, with a hand-written price card propped up against each one.
inside the store, a narrow aisle went straight to the back. new and used camera and lens counters were up front and other supplies, darkroom goods and books were just past that and went all the way to the back. in the winter, with everyone bundled up, it always seemed more crowded and a person with a parka on could barely fit by themselves down the aisle once you got past the camera counters, which was made even more impassable by the cluttering of piled up sales items like photographic paper or books right on the edges of the walkway. i've noticed in recent photos, they've modernized and cleaned it all up a little and organized the place. this is kinda what i remember it looking like inside:
anyway, central camera is a chicago institution. here's their website, which kinda looks like it hasn't been updated since 1899:
https://centralcamera.com/
Edit history
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
= new reply since forum marked as read