Binary Impact

Ritz Camera, the next casualty of the economic crisis [Does anyone care?]

Posted by Mavrik | Filed under Tech

And so the economic crisis hit America’s largest digital camera retailer: Ritz Camera. Yesterday, they filed for Chapter 11 due to lower than expected sales during the ‘08 Holiday season. Thankfully for everyone involved, Chapter 11 bankruptcy is simply a reorganization which means they will probably stick around for a bit. Hopefully the retailer will make some changes — lots of ‘em.

I don’t mean to be harsh, but does anyone really care? I find it had to believe that anyone really goes to Ritz Camera as their first choice. Not with Best Buys all over the place and the internet filled with top quality cameras with MUCH better deals than one would find at Ritz. To me, the only people who go to Ritz Camera are those who don’t know any better, like someone I know who, had I not been there, would’ve paid $400 more for his new Nikon DSLR camera.

With Circuit City nearly gone and now Ritz having problems, it’s clear that these are signs that these markets are being hurt heavily by their Internet brethren, like Amazon who reported positive earnings for the Holiday season. Perhaps this is just a reshuffling of an overcrowded market that would have happened sooner or later, economic crisis or not. Consumers are becoming more inclined to check prices online nowadays before venturing out to the store, both due to convenience and also due to the likelihood of getting a better deal. This added to the general lightening of wallets has led to a major restructuring of tech stores in general. And this may not be the last store we see having trouble in the coming year.

Tags: Bankruptcy, Business, Camera, Chapter 11, Economy, Ritz Camera, Technology