Photo store deserts

[Soocom1]

New Mexico was always a huge photography state.
When I was growing up, we were a mini mecca of photo stores in the US.
From tribal areas, to old adobe, to the Balloon fiesta to the magnificent sunset photos of the Sandias and various vistas throughout the state.
With Sandia Labs, Los Alamos Labs and other assorted hidden gov. institutions, we had one of the most robust photography basis int he US... IMO. At one point, you couldn't throw a cat without hitting a store selling photography supplies.

There were no less than 12-20 stores all across the state with various degrees of success and inventory from old tyme cameras to the latest techno toys.

My how times have changed.

A recent Google search for "photography stores in New Mexico" yielded about 5 actual camera stores with one not so sure.

A search for "camera straps" at Wal Mart yielded nothing locally.

Film is nearly non existent here (but thankfully with several silver based processors)

I did similar searches for Arizona and Texas with not the most hopeful results, but many none the less and Wal Marts selling straps all over the place.

But here is the main question.

Has digital been so devastating to the industry along with amazon, as to decimate even the simplest camera accessories to mail order only?

Are we in the midst of a photo desert situation, or are there oases?
Did we simply become the Gobi desert of cameras here or are there tropical photo areas around the country?

 

[JonFZ300]

I think it comes down to the move from film to digital and the internet. With film, you needed a shop to process the film into pictures because most people didn't have their own darkroom. Another part of it is the internet and people not needing the "salesman" model. We just don't need someone to tell us all the ins and outs of a camera anymore. You can do all the research you need online, you can decide what you want and get it delivered to your door. Why bother going into a shop?

You can still get what you need in a shop in a city or close to a city but yeah, the internet buried a lot of shops in more rural areas.

 

[Derrel]

Times have changed a LOT..the "camera store buying/selling model has declined tremendously since the 1970's. Both selling and buying has changed markedly since the advent of "the internet" in the mid- to late-1990's.

 

[webestang64]

When I started working in professional photo labs in 1985 there were around 25 labs and 10 really good photo stores. Now there is 2 or 3. And the store I work in now is the biggest here in St. Louis and has been in business since 1892.