Yesterday I had to make a stop at Crossgates Mall; Ritz Camera gave me a call, two pictures that I designated for entry into competition season – that I had asked Ritz Camera to print in “deep matte” format – were ready for pickup.
Okay, here I am at the mall, I’ll pick up the pictures, pay for them, talk photo stuff with Nick and Craig and Pattie –
Wait a second. What’s this sign that says “EVERYTHING MUST GO” on the side of the store?
Ha ha, Ritz must be having a clearance sale. Well, I do need to pick up some filters –
And then I saw the second sign.
STORE CLOSING
And a third sign.
STORE CLOSING, EVERYTHING MUST GO!
Oh come ON!! First Stuyvesant Photo, and now Ritz Camera? Are you 
kidding me?
I walked to the back of the store, where Nick was working on some print jobs. Nick’s a great guy, he likes working with infrared photography and with “spinning fire” photography. “Okay, Nick, joke’s over, ha ha, take down the goof signs,” I half-kidded.
“They’re not joke signs, Chuck,” he replied.
Aw, man… man oh man oh freakin’ man…
And in four to six weeks, when Ritz Camera closes its doors in the Albany area (they will retain an online presence), that cuts down my available print options. Great. This has to happen RIGHT NOW in competition season.
Well, it’s not like I’m out of options. I still have McGreevy Pro Lab for film development and printing; I can still print some pictures at Walmart or Rite Aid or CVS, and I can cross my fingers and hope that CVS will develop my C-41 film without any more drama.
But I’m really not happy that Ritz Camera is leaving this area.
I realize that this store actually survived the company’s initial bankruptcy, and half of Ritz Camera’s locations – including one in Colonie Center that originally was housed inside of Boscov’s – were shuttered. Still, I always appreciated the customer service at Ritz; they always went the extra mile to help each customer out and to help make sure each print looked better than expected.
And, in fact, Ritz helped me out with my Dream Window of Kenwood Avenue art project. The initial opening for the photograph in my stained glass window artwork was not completely square; it didn’t completely match up with any standard print size. Craig Dickinson, the manager of Ritz Camera, helped me crop the finished picture, and he then foam-boarded and laminated it to the proper size – a smidge over 11 1/2″ wide and a skotche over 26 3/4″ in length.
So although The Dream Window of Kenwood Avenue is framed and mounted and ready to go for competition season, I don’t think I could have had anyone else cut and trim the center picture to the unorthodox size that would fit in the center panel. You think Walmart could have done that? You think I could trust FedEx Office to achieve that?
No way.
So what does this leave me?
I still have McGreevy Pro Lab, and they’re not going anywhere fast. And Ritz Camera still maintains an online presence, so I can still upload pictures digitally and then wait a week or two for them to arrive in the mail.
But it’s still one less brick-and-mortar photography store in the Capital District.
And that’s the biggest shame of all.
Chuck The Writer 
I hope this doesn’t mean you’re going to quit the Mall Walkers Club.
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How frustrating, and unfortunately all too common.
Chuck, is that hanging on a wall? If it was mine (hey, it’s a DREAM window, right? I can dream!) I would hang it from/on a window to catch the light. I can’t wait to hear how it does in competition!
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Pat – right now it IS hanging on a wall, along with the three other candidates for that show. Yeah, thankfully I still have McGreevy Pro Lab, but I’m a person who needs plenty of options for my output.
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Don’t forget, you still have PhotoImages out here in Glenville. A bit of a drive for you I suppose but great folks. A full service photo lab and you can handle and purchase Nikon, and Sony cameras as well as camera bags, flashes and other gear there. Best of all you can talk to real, old school photo enthusiasts and camera salespeople (who made the transition when Reales closed…I still miss that place).
They do all my prints and do a great job.
http://photoimageslab.com/
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Peter – on your recommendation, I’ll give them a try. Thanks.
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Be aware that they (PhotoImages) are closed on weekends. They call it Family Appreciation Day…you have to love that.
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Yeah I just checked out their hours. Looks like the best day for me to visit them is a Thursday evening, so we’ll see how that works.
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This is terrible news. Ritz has been my go-to for printing, and due to the great customer service, I haven’t even looked into anywhere else. Truly a shame.
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“and half of Ritz Camera’s locations – were shuttered.”
Pun intended?
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Sure. Nice choice for your screen name, too…
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Great. Now, trying to find someone face-to-face who has any knowledge beyond the advertising hype will be even more impossible.
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Haven’t been to Crossgates in some time – too crowded for my back country taste – so I wouldn’t even have noticed them gone. McGreevy’s is great and they still work with film so we want them to stay around but for my digital printing I’ve been using Photo Images in Glenville. They too take the extra time to insure I get exactly what I want. I like that.
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I worked for Ritz for over 5 years & in my small town, there is NO other place that can do what we did. I personally don’t even know where I’ll print my own photos after this.
Sorry for your loss of great help from a great store. Sorry to those who have lost their jobs as well.
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Dream Window is still awesome!
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Wondered if any of you “pros” could direct me to a good, reputable camera repair shop? My Rebel has been dropped just one too many times.
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Dawn – go to Cameraworks in Latham, they do some camera repair; they’re open Wed-Fri 9a-5p.
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Chuck,
Thank you! They were the only name to come up on a search for the area but I don’t know anyone that has used them so . . . . was worried about the quality of their work. And open only 1 day a week – made me nervous.
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Dawn – the reason Cameraworks is only open three days a week to the public is because Alan is repairing mail-in cameras on the other days of the week.
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That explains so much, Chuck. Thank you.
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Chuck I am very new to the camera game and enjoyed going into Ritz and ask questions. A fellow employee advised they are closed, where is a good camera store to go to that also will sell accessories such as filters and camera bags?
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Try the Schenectady Photo Lab at the corner of State and Erie.
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