Warehouse Photographic - Closeing in 30 Days

[Tom Hicks]

Well, another one bites the dust , and it's a real shame to see this happen . we a slowly looseing people with the knowledge that we need to hang on to. most of the these guys have 35 plus years of expertise, in all phases of photography . specially all the older stuff like film . We need to continue to support our local shops , not just go in and ask information then purchase our stuff some place else. also another good lab goes with it.

Just a heads up incase you are looking for odd ball stuff, that you may not be able to find in the big box store that have no product knowledge. Take a # and wait.

Tom

[PaulP]

This stinks.

I bought my first 35mm camera from them - a Canon AT-1. Come to think of it I bought an AE-1 Program as well from them. Still have and use both occasionally

Going to have to stop by soon.

[Larry_L]

Man, that really bites. I worked there for several years with some fantastic people.

[Stephen H]

Where are they at? I'm not familiar with them.

[boomerd35]

This is the unfortunate side of our Wal-Mart society. Today's consumer wants the best customer service, most knowledgeable staff, convenient location and hours, 100% money back guarantee, and oh yeah - the lowest price- all in one package.

Troy T.

[AndrewCCM]

Originally Posted by boomerd35

This is the unfortunate side of our Wal-Mart society. Today's consumer wants the best customer service, most knowledgeable staff, convenient location and hours, 100% money back guarantee, and oh yeah - the lowest price- all in one package.

Troy T.

And don't forget.. quality products from China... All in the name of ruining what makes middle America and it's mom and pop shops so charming. It's all about excess and not quality..

[Larry_L]

Originally Posted by Stephen H

Where are they at? I'm not familiar with them.

They are on the Northwest corner of Belt Line and Kelly in Carrollton. www.warehousephoto.com

[boxofrocks]

They had more challenges that just big box competition.

[taygull]

Originally Posted by boxofrocks

They had more challenges that just big box competition.

I agree I tried to buy from them and there was one guy, Mark I think that was a big help. I bought a few things but the selection was poor, the time it would take for them to get something was way to long, and the prices were not competitive even with local mom and pops.

I fully support the mom and pops, I bought 90% of my recent gear at Competitive Camera, spending about $10K in the last 90 days. Sure I paid a little more but I've gotten tremendous service, they had in stock the stuff I needed.

A very good friend owns a small guitar shop Frisco, he understands he has to be "competitive" but not always the lowest. He also understands the market and what items he needs to stock so that he is not competing "as much" with the on line stores or the guitar centers.

"Businesses don't fail, people fail"

You must be able to adapt and change and find the value you bring to your client or potential client. If you don't they will do business somewhere else.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Don't know if this is true or not, never shopped up there since I could find things in Dallas easier and closer, but not having Saturday hours and closing at 6 pm just about shuts you out of any non-pro buyers except a very local market since 9-6 M-F won't bring in the average joe into the shop. To me if you just want a 5 day a week retail business you should close say on Wed and be open on Saturday no matter how good your customer service is, if you can't get a customer in the door there is no one to service. Really can't see how they stayed open for 35 years with the hours stated on their website.

Like I said, never had been up there (though worked probably less than 4 or 5 miles away from them a couple times) and when this thread was posted I was thinking of a different shop completely.

[taygull]

Originally Posted by DEMDeepEllumMusic

Don't know if this is true or not, never shopped up there since I could find things in Dallas easier and closer, but not having Saturday hours and closing at 6 pm just about shuts you out of any non-pro buyers except a very local market since 9-6 M-F won't bring in the average joe into the shop. To me if you just want a 5 day a week retail business you should close say on Wed and be open on Saturday no matter how good your customer service is, if you can't get a customer in the door there is no one to service. Really can't see how they stayed open for 35 years with the hours stated on their website.

Like I said, never had been up there (though worked probably less than 4 or 5 miles away from them a couple times) and when this thread was posted I was thinking of a different shop completely.

You are right about that. I think it is crazy that a retail business only wants to work 5 days and close at 6:00pm. I remember one specific time driving from McKinney all the way to Carrollton on a Saturday morning and they were closed......come to think of it I think that was the last time I tried to shop their.

This would be a great example of a business not being flexible enough to meet the needs of its clients.

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by taygull

I agree I tried to buy from them and there was one guy, Mark I think that was a big help. I bought a few things but the selection was poor, the time it would take for them to get something was way to long, and the prices were not competitive even with local mom and pops.

I fully support the mom and pops, I bought 90% of my recent gear at Competitive Camera, spending about $10K in the last 90 days. Sure I paid a little more but I've gotten tremendous service, they had in stock the stuff I needed.

A very good friend owns a small guitar shop Frisco, he understands he has to be "competitive" but not always the lowest. He also understands the market and what items he needs to stock so that he is not competing "as much" with the on line stores or the guitar centers.

"Businesses don't fail, people fail"


You must be able to adapt and change and find the value you bring to your client or potential client. If you don't they will do business somewhere else.

Also, things always seemed very disorganized in there to me.

Also, on more than one occasion, I've hear them telling things to folks looking for consumer digital stuff that was just plain incorrect. I don't think all of them were digi-savvy.

[Pascal]

Originally Posted by taygull

I agree I tried to buy from them and there was one guy, Mark I think that was a big help. I bought a few things but the selection was poor, the time it would take for them to get something was way to long, and the prices were not competitive even with local mom and pops.

I fully support the mom and pops, I bought 90% of my recent gear at Competitive Camera, spending about $10K in the last 90 days. Sure I paid a little more but I've gotten tremendous service, they had in stock the stuff I needed.

A very good friend owns a small guitar shop Frisco, he understands he has to be "competitive" but not always the lowest. He also understands the market and what items he needs to stock so that he is not competing "as much" with the on line stores or the guitar centers.

"Businesses don't fail, people fail"

You must be able to adapt and change and find the value you bring to your client or potential client. If you don't they will do business somewhere else.

I have shopped at Warehouse camera, but they never seemed to have much in inventory. Those guys there definitely are quite knowledgable and the store will be missed.


However, I don't understand why someone would spend anything at a place like competitive camera. A huge number of photographers refuse to go there simply because of the rude behavior seen quite often by the owner. They love you as long as they see you spending at their store. I have spend quite a bit there myself, but refuse to waste my time or money at Competitive anymore.

If you have to spend the money on gear, Arlington Camera (or even Cooter's village) is hard to beat. Arlington camera has just about the same level if not higher inventory than Competitive does and the staff there is a whole lot more knowledgable than anyone at Competitive camera will ever be. I am 10 mins away from Competitive Camera. But if I need to buy any photo gear, I would much rather drive for 35-40 mins to Arlington camera and get it there. My purchase of the 50mm f1.2 will be at Arlington camera - they sell it for $1500 versus $1600 at Competitive and the guy at Arlington took the time for me to take test shots and see each image in detail. Can't beat that service and price.


Also, If you think about it, unless you are tax exempt, it does not make sense to buy locally if you are spending $10k. That's about $800+ in taxes alone that could have been saved if the same items were purchased from B&H or Adorama. Not to mention, Competitive is usually 20-30% higher cost that B&H or Adorama or Beach Camera.

[gdelacruz]

It's a shame. I bought my first real camera from them back in 86. It was a Canon AE-1 which I still have. I bought it used with my first paycheck from working delivery at Josey Lane Pharmacy. I'll have to stop by to say goodbye.

[dfwlens]

Ive not seen rudeness at Competitive Camera, and most of the times Ive been in there I was gawking and not buying.

A better plug may be "Arlington Camera is a sponsor of TPF."