Local Photo Retailers

Big chains have been supplanting local stores for quite some time now. Just look at the photo and electronics busienss. Best Buy, Circuit City (see ya), Sears… all these monoliths have used their marketing might to channel the general public into their lair. Recently, my curiosity got the best of me so I set out to answer one simple question: Should I buy local or from a big box retailer?

First I visited Scorby’s in Needham (www.scorbys.com). While browsing, an elderly gentleman plunked down his entire digital camera kit- complete with nine inch lens (I had a little lens envy)- and said “I can’t get this $#@& thing to work”. Half an hour and one free photo course later, Jeff the co-owner had the gent clicking his heels. “I just love watching Jeff work his magic,” said Jeff’s dad, Mel, who opened the shop generations ago. “This is why we are in the biz. This is where we develop our loyal customer base.”

And that’s when it started to hit me: Local photo shops are the gems of the industry. They are hands on, personal, and give customers unlimited access to free information. Which is quite refreshing in such a daunting, digital age. I mean, come on, I’m still waiting for my two-year old son to grow up so he can teach me how to use this stuff.

But it wasn’t just the hand holding that got to me. It was the fact that Scorby’s was a local retailer thriving in the local community. No board of directors, no shareholders (unless you count Needham residents) and no stock-driven business decisions. They cared more about the people they would bump into at the grocery store than squeezing blood from the stone--and it showed.

Another eye opening moment came from my stop at Photo Quick in Waltham (www.photoquickwaltham.com). I was always under the impression that the market giants and the web retailers had the best pricing. Not so fast, said owner Kevin Magliozi: “So many people pick our brains on the technology and then go online to save ten bucks. Then they can’t figure out how to use it so they bring the item back into the store. It’s crazy.” Crazy, indeed (even though Kevin will always help a customer no matter where they purchased the unit). The truth is that your local stores pool together to form similar buying power to the big boys.

So when it comes to purchasing the hardware to capture your memories, geting advice on taking better images (both photo or video), or processing, there is no better value than your local photo/video retailer. Let me know what you think in the comments.