Ritz Camera Centers
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| Ritz Camera Centers | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 1918 |
| Headquarters | Beltsville, Maryland, United States |
| Key people | David M. Ritz (CEO) Curtis J. Scheel (President/ COO) Richard Tranchida (EVP) |
| Industry | Photographic products and services |
| Website | www.ritzpix.com |
Beltsville, Maryland-based Ritz Camera Centers is the largest specialty camera and photofinishing retailer in the United States. They operate a chain of approximately 1000 locations located in 45 states and the District of Columbia. These stores offer a variety of photography products and services, including one-hour photofinishing, digital imaging, and equipment. The chain includes Ritz Camera & Image, Wolf Camera & Image, Kit's Camera & Image, PROEX Photo & Portrait, Inkley's, Cameras West, and the Camera Shop. Ritz Camera Centers also includes Boaters World Marine Centers, a chain of 114 boating supply stores.
The family-owned company was founded as a portrait studio in 1918 by Benjamin Ritz, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1936, Benjamin and his brother Edward opened the first Ritz film-processing lab in Washington, DC. Ritz Camera is currently headed by Edward's son, David Ritz.
Ritz Camera owes much of its expansion to the acquisition of competitors. Ritz's largest acquisition was of Wolf Camera, which it was effectively rescuing from bankruptcy. Wolf's financial difficulty was due to its own unprofitable $64.5 million acquisition of the 450-store Fox Photo chain from Eastman Kodak. Wolf peaked at approximately 800 locations, half of which were closed by the time it was acquired by Ritz.
After the Wolf acquisition Ritz Camera Centers claimed over 1,300 locations. The company has closed a number of stores since, currently claiming only approximately 1000 stores.
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[edit] Services
Ritz Camera was one of the first chain photo-finishers to offer 4x6 prints from 35mm film, as well as free bordered prints as standard. Ritz Camera is also the first national chain to offer 4.5x6, commonly known as 6D, prints. Unlike the traditional 4x6 prints used for film, Ritz's 6D prints reflect the different aspect ratio of 4:3 digital images. Ritz stores stock 6D sized frames and albums.
In July 2003 Ritz Camera introduced RitzPix.com (also known as PrintAtWolf.com), which offer customers online ordering and in-store pickup within an hour. RitzPix.com is currently powered by LifePics.
In 2007 and early 2008, Ritz began installing Oki and Xerox equipment in their locations to enable the production of hard-back photo books, photo calendars and custom greeting cards by customers via in-store kiosks or through RitzPix.com for in-store pick up. Ritz is currently the only national retailer to offer these services in a one-hour lab.
Ritz recently introduced a "One Hour or They're Free Guarantee" for their photofinishing. Under this guarantee, all orders of 75 4x6 prints or less are free if not ready in 60 minutes. According to CEO David Ritz, "One hour processing has been around for a very long time. But often it's more myth than reality. We appreciate and understand how busy our customers are and are willing to put our money where our slogan is. When we say one hour, we mean it."
[edit] T-Mobile
Ritz Camera is a T-Mobile mobile phone dealer. Ritz usually offers giveaways with phone sales, such as a digital photo frame or digital camera.
[edit] Ritz Interactive
In 1999, David Ritz and others founded Ritz Interactive, Inc., an Irvine, California-based e-commerce company formed to bring the "brick and mortar" Ritz brands to the World Wide Web. Ritz Interactive and Ritz Camera Centers remain separate companies.
In 2003, Amazon.com formed a sales alliance with Ritz Interactive, Inc., in a deal to broaden the online retail giant's selection of camera products and accessories.[1]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Havlik, Dan (August 2003). Ritz and Adorama Join Forces with Amazon.com. Imaging Business magazine. Retrieved on 2006-09-05.
