Comments on: Is the new Ritz camera chain now 50% owned by Nikon?

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:21:27 +0000

Here’s an article about the purchase in the Washington Post. It doesn’t mention Nikon as an investor but does mention that Mr. Ritz had “a team of investors” to help:

–quote–
Last week, David Ritz, chief executive of Ritz Camera for nearly 30 years, and a team of investors bought the company’s assets and formed a new entity, intent on figuring out how a photography retailer can make money in the digital age.

–quote–

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073103886.html

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:08:09 +0000

I ordered a D90 on July 25 at a local Wolf Camera Store. It was to shipped to the store. The store is now closed. Anyone know who I could call for information? The store ordered it from Ritz Express.

By: Incognito

Incognito — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:01:59 +0000

another thing I was thinking about is since the shipping would have cost a ton, I bet Ritz did it under the old chapter 11 Ritz Camera and just wrote all that off. The shipping alone could have been $300,000 – $500,000 since it was all over night and 70+ pounds per box.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:43:59 +0000

I have never been to any Ritz or Wolf that had anything in Stock, always heard “We can order that” Well so can I frm B&H and get it a lot faster. If you do not have the goods in stock when the customer walks in the store you might as well close the door. And they did. Goodbye!

By: James

James — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:00:04 +0000

The rumour mill is working overtime.

What likely happened here is Nikon consigned the goods to Ritz. So when Ritz had to declare financial difficulties, Nikon simply recalled their stock, since Ritz didn’t pay for it it didn’t belong to them. Shipping it back to a warehouse is a way to get a handle on all of Nikon inventory and prepare to return it to Nikon. If it stayed there then Ritz likely came up with some sort of assurances it would not be sacrificed in a chapter 11 scenario.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:13:29 +0000

I said ****, not that. Stop editing my comments!!!

NR Admin: no I deleted your comment – no cursing here please

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:47:01 +0000

I bought a nikon 50mm 1.8 last week at Inkleys (ritz in Utah) and the guy said it was their last one

By: Jon Paul

Jon Paul — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:24:30 +0000

It seems like a good move to release a D700s. Most of the work will be done already for the D300s, and they could sell it for a bit more than the D700 and people would buy it (I’m another, admin).

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:04:58 +0000

@Admin, are there any websites down (because of the possible annoucement tomorrow)
Or did Nikon break with this habit?

By: NikonLover

NikonLover — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:38:26 +0000

Ok thanks ! I really do appreciate your concern ! I have so much trust and everything built up for you guys, because like 3 days before the announcement of the D5000, you were already leaking the ” Real ” images of it, and just letting us know all about it before it was coming out and I admire you guys for that ! Keep up the good work !

By: [NR] admin

[NR] admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:33:38 +0000

yes, absolutely

By: [NR] admin

[NR] admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:33:07 +0000

tonight 11:00 pm or midnight, unless Nikon decides to change its routine

By: [NR] admin

[NR] admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:32:15 +0000

This event probably did happened today – my guess is that everyone had to sign a NDA until the official announcement tomorrow/tonight. I will check. There is always confusion +/- 1 day because of the time differences.

By: NikonLover

NikonLover — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:29:18 +0000

Ok, so what time will we see the cameras on the Nikon U.S.A. site ?

Oh, and thanks for the response !

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:12:24 +0000

“I have a confirmation on the Nikon press conference in the UK: the magic will happen on Wednesday, July 29th 2009 at 2:30 pm in the Charlotte Street Hotel in London. This is one of those 100% sure rumors. Soon I will have the event info for few other countries.”

Being it is a 100% rumor, it should have already happened, right?

http://nikonrumors.com/2009/07/09/details-on-nikons-press-conference-in-the-uk.aspx

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:09:11 +0000

My buddy is a long time employee at Ritz. It does appear the Nikon has come to the rescue.

By: NikonLover

NikonLover — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:52:33 +0000

So are we still looking for the D300s and D3000 release tomorrow Nikon Rumors ?

By: David

David — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:32:12 +0000

I heard from a client in the legal field the debt swap with Nikon is probably what sealed the deal for exiting BK.

By: Ken Elliott

Ken Elliott — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:06:37 +0000

It makes sense for Nikon to take part ownership in the new Ritz as a way to get paid for all the inventory, and it makes sense to me for Nikon to have a physical count with no possibility of shenanigans. But (like Apple) this could also be a move that lets Nikon put a well-trained sales force out there that knows Nikon inside and out. At all the other stores, they promote the camera that gives them the best profits, and the staff is spread thin across all models. But if the new Ritz has a Nikon-trained staff, with photography training seminars (featuring Nikon), and sells Nikon pro gear, we might have a game changer. Perhaps a Ritz/NPS linkup that lets pros go to Ritz and get rush NPS service, loaners or rentals. Like the Apple store, this could really be a big booster for Nikon.

Or I could be completely wrong – again.

By: Jon in Chicago

Jon in Chicago — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:34:46 +0000

A few years back Ritz got into some kind of dustup with Olympus and every store was told to box up every Olympus product and send it back. I never got the full story on why but Ritz didn’t sell Oly stuff for many years after that.

On the current Ritz v. Nikon thing my guess is that Nikon is basically repoing its unsold gear to sell it back to Ritz in an effort to recoup the debt held by the company. While it is expensive to overnight stuff it is more expensive to never get paid for product.

I agree that it is weird that David Ritz ran the company into the ground and can still come up with money to buy back the company once all of the debt is written off. Maybe the money he used to buy the company back should have been used to pay off the debtors to the company in the first place? Man I wish I could afford good lawyers!