Calumet

Just received this via a mate in New York

That is astonishing, I was in the Glasgow store yesterday discussing a future purchase and as usual getting great service and knowledgable advice. I sincerely hope the European company doesn't follow suit.

Asked for a little more info - i.e. expected ??

Got this back

Now all this has happened within the last few hours bearing in mind it's not quite midday in New York as yet. That's certainly fast

Ken - I'll pass you any more info as and when I get it

Folks - this is NOT rumour - I'm getting info from the USA every few minutes

Calumet USA is very very definitely out of business permanently.

The big question is - can the European side manage to continue ?

Equally - when folk find out - as I did - about the USA side - will anyone actually order any stock from the European outlets ? There was absolutely no warning given in the USA

Now's the time to rent a stack of gear

I'll be at a loss if they go. Their facebook page is still going and a lot of comment on it.

Funnily enough I was watching a short video this morning entitled something along the lines of "Retail Armageddon US 2014"..basically a retail guru over there (I think) has put together a list of recent closures and imminent closures of US retail chains..there were 10,000's of job losses already announced with thousands of store closures across many different retail sectors. This was going to have a significant effect on the US retail scene. He reckons that within the next 15-20 years HALF of all US retail malls will have closed.

Interestingly only part of the 'blame' is laid at the door of the internet...most of the damage is being done by the 'shrinking middle classes' who are not getting wage increases but are expected to pay higher and higher food and utility bills thus squeezing their disposable income..same as over here really.

Doesn't bode well for the likes of photo equipment resellers though, although in the short term it does put downward pressure on retail prices as these items will increasingly be seen as 'luxury' and therefore not essential to household survival.

Headlines like this do increasingly mean in my view that by the end of this year at least one of the major camera body manufacturers will have pulled out.

Whilst i'm loosely on the subject...i notice it has just been announced that from April (I presume) DSLRs will replace compact cameras in the governments Consumer Prices retail index as sales of compacts have fallen. This is good news for us because it likely means that DSLR prices will at worst be stable or might even fall. My theory being that the government is not likely to include anything in its basket of goodies that might lead to an increase in official inflation figures.

certainly seems to have just been sprung on the staff

Just found the title of that video...

"The Coming 2014 U.S. Retail Apocalypse"

If you type that in a search engine it comes up along with a few similar things.

Its only about 4 -5 minutes long but quite informative.

Stuff is still coming into me

here's the latest
link

And more link

And another comment from my friend that used them until about 18 months ago when he said service was still very very good - staff helpful but prices were no longer competitive

Even their website has been taken down!

yes - Calumet USA no longer exists - it's sad , particularly the way they have treated their staff

How else could they do it ...

If they told the staff in advance and whilst they were on the premises, how much "stock" would have walked? Recent closures in the UK have shown large amounts of "shrinkage".

Had they gone to work, then they would have been sent straight home again ...

A sad sign of the times.

Yes often when companies fold, it is managed by a third party anyway, so the management staff are under a directive on how to proceed. At this stage it's no longer their company to run, which is unfortunate from the staff point of view.

It's a tricky time for many industries, with both the obvious "I can buy that cheaper online" angle, but also the change of technology moving the focus elsewhere from specialist photographic supplies. More and more customers are well versed on the item/product they want in advance of entering the store. Forums and the online reviews etc all contribute to this, which means there is less demand for service and suggestions from a physical store.