I'd support local shops if they carried my preferred manufacturer's products including the brand-specific accessories. I would rather see what I'm buying in person. I would prefer the instant gratification of walking in and exchanging money for what I want. Waiting for the delivery truck is agonizing.
I was in the Biloxi area recently and drove to Mobile, AL because I needed a piece of gear. That shop got my business because they had the item in-stock and were able to set it aside for me. Imagine my surprise when I walked in and there was still a space for non-Optio Pentax gear. As I waited my turn, I perused the offerings. When the sales clerk appeared, I asked to see a lens that was on display. She said that they didn't have it in a Pentax mount. (It clearly was marked as such in the appropriate section. She eventually found it and I got to test it.) Out in the open was a third-party 18-200mm which is nice for walking around (finally found with my diligent help--LOL). Hidden away was the beauty of the bunch: SMC DA* 50-135mmm. It begged to come home with me. How could I refuse? Needless to say, I walked out of the establishment much poorer than I was upon arrival. Here's the kicker: My purchases were placed in a large shopping bag emblazoned with a picture of a huge Canon bearing the EOS logo. ARGH! Had she heard nothing I said about a certain marketing behemoth? LOL Yolanda > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 14:47 > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: Re: Sometimes it's hard to shoot Pentax > > > > "Well, I don't know anthing about it, I haven't read any of > > > the reviews on it, and I don't make those decisions anyway > > > the owner does. There's a lot of great gear out there that we > > > don't carry." At that point he handed me the charge slip to > > > sign and I took my yellow copy and left. > > > > One of the local dealers was telling me that no Pentax field sales > > representative had been in to see them in several years. They're not > > negative on the brand, they simply don't know what's going on or why > > they haven't been contacted in so long. > > I would find that hard to believe. I knew Pentax's rep for Northern > California > (his territory was bigger than that and included other states, but I'm not > sure > exactly how big), and he was in at least every other month, sometimes more > often if there was new stuff to show. > > I think (without having time to read more posts in this thread) that the > reason > Pentax is not better shown in shops is primarily because of marketing. > I'm not > just talking about advertisements, though. Canon and Nikon > (KonicaMinolta, > too, before they chickened out) both offer a lot of marketing materials, > ad co- > ops, and other benefits to dealers. Pentax never seemed to have much of > that > compared to the other guys. In this down market, if a camera dealer can > get > help from a company, he'll do whatever it takes to get it. I know this > was the > case at my previous employer, as well as at others. > > Plus, I think we all know Canon, Nikon, and Sony are the juggernauts here. > Pentax is more like Leica, and since both sell a lot less than the other > brands, relative profit is much lower. Dealers have to sell what makes > them > money on a consistant basis, and thus the smaller guys mostly get left > out. > > It's all about profit, people. Camera shops are having tough times, so > they do > what it takes to make a profit. It's unfortunate for us Pentax users, but > what > can we do? > > Besides trying to buy from local shops, not a whole lot. > > John Celio > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
