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Thread: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

  1. #21
    8x10, 5x7, 4x5, et al Leigh's Avatar
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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill L. View Post
    I gave up on the Penn Store in Rockville when the manager told me that the salespeople were on commission...
    I dealt with Penn for 44 years, and they were always quite proud of the fact that their staff was NOT on commission.

    However, as they expanded to multiple sites, that decision may have been left to each individual store manager.
    Considering the manager in Rockville it wouldn't surprise me.

    I only visited that store twice, so I'm not familiar with its operation.

    - Leigh
    If you believe you can, or you believe you can't... you're right.

  2. #22
    Cordless Bungee Jumper Sirius Glass's Avatar
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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    Thank you for the update on the sale.

    Quote Originally Posted by rdenney View Post
    Of course, Moe out at Ace Photo ...

    The last time I wandered into Penn at Tyson's Corner, ...

    Rick "noting Ace Photo has a better selection of lighting equipment, tripods, and cases--the stuff many people really need to see in the flesh before buying--than Penn Tysons" Denney
    I had the opposite experience with Ace, [we can talk about that off line]

    While Penn Tyson's Corner, did not have what I needed if I drop in, if I called Chip a day or two before I would come in, Chip would get whatever I needed and have it ready for me. One time I needed 250 sheets of Kodak Portra VC 160 in 4"x5" and he got it for me for the next day. If I need so thing that Chip cannot get, he tells me who has it.
    Nothing beats a great piece of glass!

    I leave the digital work for the urologists and proctologists.

  3. #23
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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    Quote Originally Posted by Sirius Glass View Post
    While Penn Tyson's Corner, did not have what I needed if I drop in, if I called Chip a day or two before I would come in, Chip would get whatever I needed and have it ready for me. One time I needed 250 sheets of Kodak Portra VC 160 in 4"x5" and he got it for me for the next day. If I need so thing that Chip cannot get, he tells me who has it.
    No store is perfect. All stores work better if you know someone in charge on a first-name basis. It could well have been just luck that I hit Penn on a bad day and Ace on a good day, resulting in me knowing the owner of Ace on a first-name basis, and never learning anybody's name at Penn.

    Rick "who hasn't found the perfect camera store yet, even back when they were not on the edge" Denney

  4. #24
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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    Quote Originally Posted by Gem Singer View Post
    C'mon Rick, I'm sure that the sales people at Penn Camera that you experienced were not the same folks that helped me out 55 years ago.
    Isn't that what I said?

    Rick "never doubting that it was a good store at least at one time" Denney

  5. #25
    Greg Greg Blank's Avatar
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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    For the most part I agree, but I would only buy from A-as a last resort. As someone that handles returns from them and has also purchased from them. The majority of returns are merely opened boxes that the end user could not figure out how to use the item & we are not talking electronics but rather on camera flash diffusers that should be self explaining and actually come with very simple operational instructions and also have good tutorials online.

    By in large its a sad statement on the American consumer in general. There really needs to be an instituted national sales tax that replaces state sales tax. That in my perception would fix the BS. All the big camera stores also come with their own sets of issues, none are perfect. If you could only buy from one of these bigger suppliers as a result of the other being gone, you would not be happy as a result of the service- that I can gaurantee.

    Quote Originally Posted by D. Bryant View Post


    Same old sad song Bob? Not many of us can walk in to a camera store like we once knew. I'm thankful for internet vendors but many of us miss the social shopping experience. I'd just as soon shop at Amazon.com since that face to face shopping experience is gone with the wind.
    "Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will
    accomplish them."
    Warren G. Bennis

    www.gbphotoworks.com

  6. #26

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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    Even if a sales person isn't working on a commission in the traditional sense, many of the major manufacturers (or their distributors/wholesalers, etc.) give retail sales people coupons or other forms of incentive when they sell the manufacturer's product. The coupons that I remember could be redeemed for cash or used to purchase the manufacture's product.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  7. #27
    Large Format Rocks ImSoNegative's Avatar
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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom J McDonald View Post
    Yes, I don't think digital is killing stores, but the dreaded internet.
    I agree, the internet has been and will be death of many retail stores, after christmas i read that sears and kmart are closing several stores because of low sales during the holidays.
    "WOW! Now thats a big camera. By the way, how many megapixels is that thing?"

  8. #28
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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    With gas at 3.50 a gallon, it costs me $15 to drive to Penn, and $10 to drive to Ace. I feel a lot less guilty about ordering online when I'm in the store and stuff that ought to routinely stocked isn't there, and to be scolded because I didn't "order" it ahead of time. Sales tax isn't the problem. I've never avoided a major camera purchase because of that. Service is the issue. What service can be provided to customers in a face-to-face sales situation that can't be provided over the phone or on a web page? That's what brick-and-mortar stores need to focus on. People will pay more for service. Those who insist that mail-order has ruined them sound like they are making excuses. Mail-order has been with us for over a hundred years (ref: Sears, ironically)--the Internet just improved the service model.

    Rick "noting many stores that focus on quality and service and don't have to compete on price" Denney

  9. #29

    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    Too bad. I visited Penn on 18th Street a few months ago while I was in DC.

    I liked them too. They *actually* carried large format gear.

  10. #30
    Scott Davis
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    Re: Bankruptcy Sale At Penn Camera

    If you found large format gear in the 18th Street store, that was a fluke - more likely the E Street store if you saw large format.

    In response to Jim's earlier question ProPhoto is still around - business usually seems pretty anemic in there whenever I've been in, but they must be doing more than I realize because they're still open. Maybe their rent is grandfathered or something. They're still trying to sell some old black-and-white printing papers (Oriental Seagull in the blue-and-white boxes, Agfa Brovira) that's more than a decade out of date, in some cases more than 15 years out of date, and when I asked a price on the graded Seagull, they would only give 10% off of list price for buying it in VOLUME.

    Back in the day, I worked for Cooper's Camera Mart, one of the Baltimore stores Penn bought out. I have no idea why they bought them out, because they did it and within two to three years they shut it down. I think they were thinking they'd milk the mini-lab business, or maybe they were aiming for the customer lists, or just wanted to get some inventory on the cheap. Who knows.

    As to sales incentives from manufacturers, I think the biggest factor is still store management. While I was at Coopers, even though we got SPIFFs from certain manufacturers for selling specific products, management came around and told us regularly that they were more concerned about a customer getting the right camera. The store had built its reputation on customer service, and as such they didn't want word getting around that someone got bad advice or sold what was right for the salesman at Coopers. I won't say I never saw someone pushing a specific brand of camera that had a higher SPIFF, but I don't think I ever saw someone up-sell a point-and-shoot customer into an SLR they didn't want/need/couldn't handle. I did see plenty of back-stabbing amongst sales people trying to claim certain regular customers as personal territory, and occasionally talking to customers like they were stupid, but not up/over-selling.

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