>
> I would assume Ritz is going under because of the general decline in
> photofinishing (which is often what keeps a store profitable) and the large
> number of mail-order dealers with a Web presence. As much as one would like
> to think it's due to poor service, it's almost certainly a combination of
> other factors.
>
The camera store I used to work for was essentially just a front for the pro
lab. The "store" was just to keep us counter-wonks busy.
One thing I did was every few months, I'd go through the counters and
completely rearrange items. Obviously, the Olympus used counter had no
inventory due to the employee who kept scarfing up every item that came
through, but I'd get pretty wild with the displays until the boss
recommended that I "chill". However, he did have to admit that I sold more
cameras and accessories than anybody else and I only worked four hours on
Saturdays.
One day, I came in and there was a new rack display of Minolta binoculors
Minolta came out with a line of beautiful pocket-sized folding binocs. I
got all excited about those things and was very impressed with them--even
bought one for myself. I sold ALL but one of them, just by pidgeon-holing
the guys coming in and my saying "hey, you've got to check these out".
The point is, if you can get the counter-hacks excited about something,
they'll "tell their friends".
AG
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