SINGLE BRAND SPECIALISTS
Leica has been busy
opening their exclusive Leica stores all over the world. It is a successful concept that is serving
them well. But as new as this concept
might appear, it has been done before.
In 1979, Photo Visuals of
Minneapolis was the first camera store ever to sell exclusively Leica
equipment. Initially the business was
planned as a photography studio. Prior
to that, the owners worked at a store that sold more Leica equipment than any
other in the area. Jim Kuehl, the Leica
representative at the time, called them, saying that he could not afford to
lose their expertise and customer base.
Leicas had always been a favorite of the two owners and with the help of
Leica, at that time in Rockleigh, New Jersey, they placed an opening order to
obtain a Leica franchise. Once the order
arrived, thoughts turned to how best to promote it. That’s when the thought came up to promote it
as the first ever exclusively Leica dealer.
The concept took off beyond expectations and the studio aspect of the
business was soon left behind. The store
soon sold new and used Leica equipment on all continents with the exception of Antarctica.
Photo Visuals 1980
The concept apparently had
a lot of appeal and soon Alvin’s Photo Supply of Pasadena opened California’s
First Exclusively Leica store. They were
followed by The Darkroom “Leica and Leica only” in San Francisco.
But this was not only to
be found in the US. Germany too has
dealers that sell just one brand exclusively.
The German magazine FOTOwirtschaft recently published an article by
Klaus Jendrissek with the title LUXUS PROBLEME (Luxury problems) about one of
the largest Leica dealers in the country.
That too is an exclusively Leica store.
He wrote:
The Bilderfürst (picture
prince) - camera merchant Jan Dittmar from Fürth - has definite problems. He has a waiting list for photography
equipment and many items sell beyond their manufacturer suggested retail price.
For a Leica 50mm f/0.95
customers gladly pay 8,000 euros ($8,900) if it is available. If not, Jan Dittmer will put their name on a
waiting list. When new deliveries
arrive, the customers will be notified.
Customers often wait two years for some Leica products, and they
understand. These cameras and lenses are
being made by hand with great care and that takes time.
Dittmar doesn’t need to
explain, as a well-known Leica specialist he has the complete confidence of the
Leica community.
“You have to make a
decision,” he explains. “Either you
offer a selection of different makes.
That means you tie up a lot of capital in your wares. Then you need at least a representative
number of Canons and Nikons, possibly also a few Olympus items and one or two
Sony products. At that point it gets a
bit tight for what else the market has to offer. Or you put all your eggs in one basket and
specialize.”
That means, if done right,
extreme specialization can even be successful at places where you might not
expect it. Jan Dittmar is concentrating
totally on Leica. In his store of 450
square feet you will only find Leicas and nothing else.
The business concept is
relatively simple from one point of view but also difficult from another
one. With such approaches retail prices
are not everything. Most of those who
enter the store know that Leicas are often sold at fixed prices.
That is the unproblematic
part of the concept which is followed at Dittmar’s Leica Boutique. The difficulty on the other hand is to be
able to obtain certain pieces of equipment.
It’s not that Leica doesn’t care, but with their production methods they
currently aren’t able to do more.
Dittmar’s customers can see that for themselves. Several times a year the Leica man offers
invitations for trips/workshops to the Leica factory. There they can experience for two days that
real specialists are needed to create the optical-mechanical marvels, and
people with that kind of experience and such golden hands are rare. The consequence: the customers will be able
to look forward to their orders for longer than they had hoped.
Service and care of the
past are part of such a single-brand-boutique as well. Because the optics from the 70s also fit the
digital Leicas of today, they are much sought after. A used Summilux 80mm f/1.4, which sat on a
shelf for 900 euros ($1,185) a while ago, now fetches 4,000 euros
($5,280). Leica is also updating the
analog lenses for use on digital Leica equipment. For 160 euros ($210) yesterday’s lenses
become lenses that can also be “understood” by the digital Leicas. Thus the used lenses are being offered a new
life and increasing prices.
Customers are coming to
Fürth from far away. Since Dittmar
always goes by “purchase if something is available, to have it when asked for”
he is able to accommodate more customers wishes, even very unusual ones, than
his I-have-Leicas-also colleagues.
His store is known all
over Europe and even further. The
Japanese, some of the greatest admirers of original Leica technology, order
from Dittmar or they come personally for a visit. The Leica specialist is also delivering Leica
lenses to Canon film crews. Attached to
Canon cameras with an adapter, they deliver amazingly good results.
Right now the photo
business is a lot more fun than in years past.
Because of floods and other natural disasters equipment is often in
short supply. Therefore customers are
more accepting of the prices than in the past.
Many a merchant has seen with disbelief that several items sold for
above the manufacturer suggested retail price and that without customer
complaints. When has that ever happened
the years past?
Taking the above into
consideration, Leica came to the game relatively late. But they are following a successful concept
and their success as well as the successes of other exclusively Leica stores
prove them right.
________________________________________________________________________________________
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