Ritz Camera closing 300 stores, sales start April 4

John Biggs — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:06:49 +0000

Ritz Camera will close almost 50% of its stores in a move to reorganized after a court-supervised bankruptcy. The closing will leave 400 stores in the U.S.

Ritz was one of the first and finest camera chains but, as we all know, these chains are about as useful now as a dinosaur with a buggy whip. Online news sources provide most of the camera advice we need and online stores make it easy to get that latest 12-megapixel wonder. Besides, who needs some guy telling you what to buy when every point-and-shoot is basically the same now.

$50 million of inventory will be liquidated, so maybe you can head over to pick up a flash or something. Sales start on April 4.

There goes Ritz Camera

Matt Burns — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:30:34 +0000

And so the economic crisis hit America’s largest digital camera retailer: Ritz Camera. The retailer just filed for Chapter 11 thanks 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. That is if a judge approves $85 million in financing. Hopefully the retailer will make some changes — lots of ‘em.

Maybe if Ritz actually stocked higher quality products at Internet competitive prices, the stores would do better. Just saying. Ritz has always been for me a last resort if I forgot to order a part offline and I cannot wait for shipping. Only once have I ever received quality service from a Ritz store.

TechCrunch » ritz camera

Ritz Camera closing 300 stores, sales start April 4

There goes Ritz Camera