Bloomberg is reporting that Ritz Camera Centers Inc., the largest camera-store chain in the U.S., has filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming the deepening U.S. recession and the consumer transition to digital photography.
Ritz has about 800 locations in more than 40 states, including the Ritz Camera chain, Wolf Camera, Kits Cameras, Inkley’s and the Camera Shops. The Beltsville, Maryland-based company suffered from a drop in photo printing, as well as slumping sales at its 130 Boater’s World Marine Centers, which were hurt by last year’s record oil prices, court papers show.
In 2001, Ritz acquired Wolf Camera, the second-largest U.S. camera-store chain with 500 locations in 20 states, for about US$85 million. Wolf filed a liquidating Chapter 11 plan that paid the secured bank lender about 50 cents on the dollar, while unsecured creditors received nothing for their US$100 million in claims.
Benjamin Ritz opened his first portrait studio in 1918 on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Twenty years later, Benjamin’s younger brother, Edward, opened their first photo processing lab in Washington and later expanded to Baltimore. The company’s wider expansion began in 1969 under Edward’s son, David.
In addition to Canon and Nikon, Ritz’s top unsecured creditors include Fuji Photo Film USA which is owed more than US$8 million.
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