‘Day 60: Going Out of Business’
courtesy of ‘quinn.anya’
I spent several years of my young life working in Uncle Chuck’s Camera Emporium Wolf Camera, so on my priority list going into a Ritz Camera ranks somewhere between… swapping hankerchiefs with SARS carriers and stabbing myself in the face.
However, Dealmac reveals that the closeout sales start tomorrow. They’re closing almost half their stores as part of their chapter 11 restructuring and apparently will be discounting items to get them off the shelves. Personally I’m not optimistic the deals will be that great or include many worthwhile things; I imagine that anything that can be moved will likely be shuffled out to more profitable stores – they still have about 400 that will continue to do business. However it should not be a repeat of the Circuit City nonsense where a 3rd party liquidator peddles things at list prices that are above what you’d pay anywhere – these sales are still through Ritz themselves as they try to reorg.
If you want to give it a shot I’ve culled all the closing stores from our surrounding area from the (annoyingly not-sorted-by-state list) PDF linked in the Dealmac article. It looks like all the ones in our area are closing, but check the list below the jump before you head out just to be sure.
- Homer Building: 601 13Th Street Nw Store # 3, Washington , DC 20005-0000
- 233 Pennsylvania Ave Se,Washington , DC 20003-0000
- 1017 15Th Street, Nw 1017 15Th St N W,Washington , DC 20005-0000
- Lakeforest Mall: 701 Russell Avenue, Gaithersburg , MD 20877-0000
- Wheaton Plaza, Wheaton , MD 20902-0000
- White Flint Mall: 11301 Rockville Pike, Kensington , MD 20895-0000
- Shops At Sumner Place: 4611 Sangamore Rd, Bethesda , MD 20816-0000
- Downtown Silver Spring: 8551 Fenton Street, Silver Spring , MD 20910-0000
- Arundel Mills: 7000 Arundel Mills Cir, Hanover , MD 21076-0000
- Valley Mall: 17301 Valley Mall, Hagerstown , MD 21740-0000
- Seven Corners Center: 6328 Seven Corners Center, Falls Church , VA 22044-0000
- Dulles Town Center: 21100 Dulles Town Cir, Sterling , VA 20166-0000
- Potomac Mills: 2700 Potomac Mills Cir, Woodbridge , VA 22192-0000
- Ballston Common Mall: 4238 Wilson Blvd, Arlington , VA 22203-0000
- Pentagon City Mall: 1100 S Hayes St, Arlington , VA 22202-0000
- Fort Evans Plaza: 210A Fort Evans Road Ne, Leesburg , VA 20176-0000
- Courthouse: 2050 Wilson Blvd,Arlington , VA 22201-0000
- Bailey’s Crossroads: 5874 Crossroads Ctr Way, Falls Church , VA 22041-0000
- Ashbrook Commons Plaza: 20035 Ashbrook Commons Plz, Ashburn , VA 20147-0000
- 2453 Prince William Parkway, Woodbridge , VA 22192-0000
- Virginia Gateway Center: 7352 Atlas Walk Way, Gainesville , VA 20156-0000
Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.
Hmm, guess I just did.
My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.
Can’t say I’m sorry. Horrible service, un-knowledgeable associates… They’re a big reason why we went – and still patronize – Penn Camera.
Pass.
I’m sad to see another victim of the recession. I see they closing 2 Woodbridge stores. This will leave another empty spot in Potomac Mills Mall. (Lens N’ Things which occupied the mall for many years closed last year)
Do you think I can get a Canon 5D Mark II for 5 bucks?
I’ve never spent any money in a Ritz and have only rented lenses from Penn. I buy almost everything online from B&H but I’ve bought a few things from Ace Photo out in Virginia.
If you can get a 5DMkII for 5 bucks, someone in my house is going to be PISSED.
If you can get a 5DMkII for $5, I know what you’re getting for our anniversary, hon.
If I can get a 5D Mark II for 5 bucks, I’m buying their entire stock.
How much angrier could you get? You already spent money on Canon when you could have had a Nikon.
I keed, I keed – I just have this all stored up from back when I used to [fail to] make a living taking pictures with my Canon F1 and caught flack from Nikon pros. Now that I have moved to the dark side I feel like I’m obligated to be the picked-on nerd who gets his growth spurt over summer and comes back a bully.
You’re just defensive ’cause all the cool kids switched to Canon. Nikon, Schmikon. :-P
There are two stores right downtown that I don’t see on the list – the Ritz SuperStore on L St. at 18th (around the corner from a Penn and only a few blocks from ProPhoto), and the one between K and L on Connecticut.
I don’t see the Fairfax store listed (near Fair Lakes). Is that included in the closings?
The knowledge of the associates all depends on which store that you go to, some of the stores in this area, mostly the more profitable stores where the place their good people, have some employees who really know their stuff.
There are actually quite a few stores in this area, the most profitable ones of course, that are not closing. The Fair Lakes, Tysons I, Herndon and Reston stores are four that I can think of off the top of my head that are not on this list.
From what I’ve read on The Consumerist… the liquidation is being managed by the same company that did Circuit City… so be prepared for another crappy goodbye (get the pun?).
I happened to go by the Pentagon City store; even with the sale prices Penn Camera was still cheaper.
@Steph
The one on Fair Lakes Pkwy is not closing.
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