Jump to content

      



























Photo
- - - - -

Blacks camera stores across Canada closing Aug. 8


  • Please log in to reply
5 replies to this topic

#1 sebberry

sebberry

    Resident Housekeeper

  • Moderator
  • 21,503 posts
  • LocationVictoria

Posted 09 June 2015 - 10:18 AM

I can't say I'm surprised.  The times I went in, they had little selection in camera equipment (Future Shop had a much bigger camera department) and the rents in the mall helped to keep the prices high. 

 

I wonder what will take the place of Blacks in Hillside.  It's in Victoria, right?  How about a marijuana dispensary?

 

 


Blacks camera stores across Canada closing Aug. 8

 

Blacks, the longtime Canadian camera shop and film developing chain, is closing its stores in Toronto and across Canada this August.

 

Employees at two Toronto locations told CBC News they were told Blacks stores would be closing Aug. 8. 

 

Telus, which acquired Blacks in 2009, confirmed in a statement that all of the company's 59 outlets — most in Ontario — will be shut. Some 485 employees are affected by the closure, Telus said, noting it will try to find new jobs for those employees with Telus or its other mobile service, Koodo.

 

[...]

 

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...aug-8-1.3106137

 


Victoria current weather by neighbourhood: Victoria school-based weather station network

Victoria webcams: Big Wave Dave Webcams

 


#2 G-Man

G-Man

    Senior Case Officer

  • Moderator
  • 13,800 posts

Posted 09 June 2015 - 10:50 AM

"Closing them in Toronto and across Canada..." 

 

Seriously. Who writes this stuff?


  • sebberry likes this

Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

It has a whole new look!

 


#3 Bingo

Bingo
  • Member
  • 16,666 posts

Posted 09 June 2015 - 03:31 PM

I can't say I'm surprised.  The times I went in, they had little selection in camera equipment (Future Shop had a much bigger camera department) and the rents in the mall helped to keep the prices high. 

 

I wonder what will take the place of Blacks in Hillside.  It's in Victoria, right?  How about a marijuana dispensary?

 

 

 

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...aug-8-1.3106137

 

There is not a huge market for cameras anymore unless you are a serious photographer, because most people can take a high quality photo with their phone or their laptop and put it on social media immediately. Besides how many photos have you actually printed out and stuck in an album or a picture frame lately?


  • lanforod likes this

#4 spanky123

spanky123
  • Member
  • 20,971 posts

Posted 09 June 2015 - 04:24 PM

There is not a huge market for cameras anymore unless you are a serious photographer, because most people can take a high quality photo with their phone or their laptop and put it on social media immediately. Besides how many photos have you actually printed out and stuck in an album or a picture frame lately?

 

If I recall, the main reason that Telus bought Blacks was to keep Wind and other retailers out and give themselves a distribution channel for their Virgin and Koodoo brands. I don't think that the intent was ever to keep Blacks around on its own for any length of time.


Edited by spanky123, 09 June 2015 - 04:24 PM.


#5 skeptic

skeptic
  • Member
  • 387 posts

Posted 09 June 2015 - 04:54 PM

There is not a huge market for cameras anymore unless you are a serious photographer, because most people can take a high quality photo with their phone or their laptop and put it on social media immediately. Besides how many photos have you actually printed out and stuck in an album or a picture frame lately?

I don't think it's as much about the market for cameras as it is the revenue available serving the digital market versus the (now obsolete) film market. I got my first digital camera in 1997 (it had 128,000 pixels!) and I haven't bought a roll of film or developed one since then. Blacks and other traditional photo stores have tried to serve the digital market but there just isn't enough money there.

I just upgraded to a Canon EOS70D--I'm a serious amateur photographer. But Blacks has nothing to offer me. I think Canon, Nikon and Olympus will continue to be successful serving the point-and-shoot, prosumer and pro markets, but the photo shops are toast. And of course people taking photos with phones have no use at all for stores like Blacks. Their photos are going online, and that's it.

Coincidentally, the bricks and mortar camera shops are toast too (or soon will be). I buy all my equipment online and have done so for over 10 years--the shops just don't have the selection and pricing.

Edited by skeptic, 09 June 2015 - 05:02 PM.


#6 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,168 posts

Posted 13 June 2015 - 02:28 PM

Telus is likely to move any mobile kiosks setup in malls into at least some of the spaces occupied by Blacks.


Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


 



0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users