Calumet Closing!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kirk Gittings]

yes that was my issue with them too over the last 10 years.

[BarryS]

What a disaster. They recently bought out the Penn Camera stores in the DC area, so that would leave this area with very little in the way of camera/photography stores. I was just talking with the Calumet people at SPE in Baltimore this past Saturday and they didn't even hint at this!

[Oren Grad]

They filed for Chapter 7 on March 12th. Case # 14-08893 in the Northern District Court of IL (Federal Bankruptcy Court)

And the filing itself has already been obtained and posted:

http://www.photobusinessforum.com/im...e_14-08908.pdf

[Michael Kadillak]

Bummer. The listing of creditors is enormous and I hope that these enterprises saw it coming and mitigated the financial damage to the degree possible. Industry consolidation is a painful experience but if there is a buck to be made necessary adjustments to the business model will be made and life will go on. Large top heavy distributors are a thing of the past.

[John Olsen]

I guess I can delete my last back-order note now. Too bad. My first orders with Calumet were in 1971 and I came to value the knowledge and support of their staff. All of the on-line ordering at lower prices has killed that kind of service, but I'll continue to save my 1985 catalogue as a reminder of simpler times (Look, a Hasselblad 500C/M for $579!)

[Peter Lewin]

A pity also because they used to have a stock of miscellaneous Zone VI spare parts and odds and ends. I guess now Richard Ritter will be the last resource for those of us who still love Zone VI equipment, either in the field or in our dark rooms.

[neil poulsen]

That's too bad. They really did have a passion for what they did. I remember going to the opening of their LA store. Calumet's founder was there, and the passion was evident. But I saw a change years ago, when they were bought out by an investment firm.

I thought that their student-buy program was neat, in which they gave substantial discounts to help student photographers get started. Their purchase of Zone VI was also kind of neat, because they really tried to carry that flag for a while. For example, they recognized problems with the "5x7" enlarger and made improvements.

[tgtaylor]

I'm going to miss them. Was in the San Francisco just last weekend to see if they had any RA developer kits which I have been purchasing from them for several years now. If they didn't have one in the store but another store had it they would special order it sent to the store for pick-up and I wouldn't have to pay the shipping. I recently purchased 6 of their waterproof cases to store all my 4x5, 8x10 and enlarger lens in and also for the 810G. I'm going to miss those cases which were a real bargain compared to the Pelican version.

Thomas

[Taija71A]

... I knew a number of people there personally like David Gremp. But all my contacts there are gone but perhaps one. I will try and contact him and see what he knows...

____

Although, this was inevitable... It is still SAD, SAD News indeed! Number of Creditors: 585
--
I see that the 'List of Creditors' includes...

Gremp, David
2030 Marston Lane
Flossmoor, IL 60422

___

The last time that I called Calumet for something listed as 'In Stock' on their Web Site... They asked ME what the item was?

I tried to explain to 'them'... That it was for a 4x5 Large Format Camera...
They then asked ME... "What is 4x5 ???"

Enough said...
___

Best regards,

-Tim.
_________

[Drew Wiley]

I once did quite a bit of business with them. But then their focus changed. They bet all their money on one horse (digital studio), always seemed to have annoying
upcharges, had a hokey website hard to find stuff on, and if you called them, took some luck to find someone with a knowledgeable background who could tell you
what they actually carried. I didn't expect them to survive, and am surprised they held on this long.