Back on Halloween I posted Comet Camera to the rescue wherein I told the tale of how I inadvertently transformed my digital camera's (long obsolete) storage media to uselessness. Then I stumbled upon Comet Camera in Cherry Hill, NJ, and the woman there, Jenny, was kind enough to give me one of their old test cards completely free of charge so I'd at least be able to keep using my camera.
Yesterday I had reason to travel to Cherry Hill again and on my way by Comet Camera (other side of the road—Route 70, a main road eventually leading to Philly and which is two lanes each way separated by a grass median) I noticed that the windows of Comet Camera were brown-papered over and there were some pink and yellow 8.5"x11" papers posted which I assumed would contain more info. I didn't know if it was closed or relocated (with an extremely slim chance of just closed for remodelling). Since my destination in Cherry Hill is literally just beyond there I managed to tend to what I wanted to tend to and then also remember to stop by the storefront on my return.
Turns out the shop did not just move, it is indeed closed. The notices were directing folks to contact their store in NYC for any camera repair needs. At least they're not completely out of business as a business, but I have no idea what that means for the folks who worked here in NJ. I would guess they were just let go since NYC would be quite a commute and presumably the NYC store already has its own staff.
I guess I could look at it as a DimSkip "curse." Or perhaps it was a rare glimpse of the universe (for once) smiling upon me with favor, correcting my misfortune in a reasonably timely manner. I don't know.
In retrospect I wonder if this "transition" was known two months ago by Jenny to be impending and if that had any factor in her willingness to help me out free of charge. Regardless, I'm still immensely grateful, but now I'm a little sad wondering about her fate. Plus there's always something a little bit depressing (though not surprising) when unique little shops, with their inherently much more personal touch, have to close their doors.
Before I'd found Comet Camera I also tried a Ritz Camera chain store in a local mall. They not only were not helpful, they seemed almost aggressively unsympathetic if that's possible. And I tried another unique shop too, but one where they dealt in not only cameras, but other electronics as well (mainly TVs and video equipment). While they were at least sympathetic, they were also unable to help. Comet Camera was just a completely random find that luckily turned out to be the answer for me.
2 days ago
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2 comments:
This economy is truly taking it's toll on workers. I am sorry for your loss. Especially right after you found the place.
Well, to be honest I'm not sure the economy is necessarily to be blamed in this instance...
Personally I just don't see much need for specialized camera repair shops these days. In fact, until I just happened to see the shop that one day I probably would have assumed that such a place just did not exist. I'm sure it and any possibly similar specialty shops were not listed in the phone books to which I had access or I would have tried purposely to call them or look them up, if only to gather ideas as to how I should proceed.
I guess there must be some need for such a place, but with the availability of (relatively) cheap digital cameras I would think most folks would just buy a new one when the old one goes pfft. I know I would. Of course, it was just that in my one special case it was not the camera itself that went bad so I definitely preferred to salvage it by just getting another media card somehow/somewhere if I could.
That being said, though, obviously the current state of the economy does not help such places and I feel for the employees.
I'm also sure it's not as if they would have been able to stay in business there had I insisted on paying them for the card they generously gave me.
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