B&H and Adorama Closed!

On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 11:55:19 GMT, Gary Edstrom
wrote:

You know, it wasn't that many years ago in this country that virtually
all businesses were closed on Sunday. I can remember a time when the
only places open for business on Sundays were SOME grocery stores and
SOME gas stations. EVERYTHING else was closed.

Yup, and things have changed. These businesses have opened for
business on Sundays, or not, or have passed from the scene. The
same with B&H. I wanted to order a flash and lens from B&H but
was unable to because of their holidays. I purchased them from a
competitor. This will either adversely affect B&H or not. Depending
on the numbers of people who do the same. Free country and all
that. I suppose people of the Jewish faith are a little aggravated
when Christian businesses close down for a week or more during the
Christmas holidays. These posts about B&H and Adorama have
illustrated why I wish religious beliefs were mandated by law to be
*PRIVATE*. No public expression of religion allowed. Expression
of "religion" has caused more pain, death, and suffering than all
other causes in the history of mankind.

"Charles" wrote in message
The other major stores in New York are open because most Jews are not
of that Orthodox persuasion like most of those employed at B&H and
Adorama. And no, they don't have enough employees who are not of that
Orthodox persuasion to keep the stores open. That is the way it is, no
point in being outraged. Those stores have operated this way for many
years and are able to stay in business despite their long closings.

--
Charles

Thanks for the explanation, Charles.

John.

"Rita Ä Berkowitz" ritaberk2O04 @aol.com wrote
Look at it this way, John, they saved you the aggravation of having to
declare any property when you got back to Dublin.
Rita

Very true, Rita. I was worried about getting the lens through Customs&
Excise. What if my bags were checked and the lens discovered? I'd have to
pay a hefty tax on it. I arrived back in Ireland at 6am local time this
morning and guess what.....there was no Customs check! I could have brought
in a raft of stuff and walked straight through. Which makes the stores
closures all the more annoying. Grrrr.

John

carrigman wrote:

I'm just back from a trip to New York City where high on my agenda was a
visit to B&H to buy a Canon lens. Off I went one morning only to find the
store closed for the week. No word of explanation. No matter, there was
always Adorama. So I hightailed it down to West 18th Street only to find
myself, together with a bunch of other bemused photographers, staring at
shuttered windows and a notice saying they too were closed for the week!

All to do with a Jewish holiday, I understand.

Rosh Hashana (New Year' Day) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are
the two most serious of all the Jewish holy days, especially Yom Kippur
which is the only sad holiday during the entire year. These are followed
by Sukkos, the happy festival of the new harvest. As B&H is owned by
very religious Hassidic Jews, and most of their staff are also Hassidic
Jews, they close for their holy days.

Surely they have enough
non-Jewish employees to cater for the rest of us?

Actually..... they don't.

I didn't see any other
major New York stores closed for religious reasons

Quite a few shops in New York actually close EVERY Sunday! Can you
imagine! EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY! Makes it very difficult for customers who
work Mon-Saturday!

and I think it is
outrageous for these two firms to treat its customers like this.

I think you will find that most Vietnamese markets close for several
days at the end of Jan/begining of February for Tet. The Chinese shops
close for Chinese New Year (roughly same as Tet although often a day or
two different.) Almost all of Japan shuts down for a week for 'Obon'
during the summer months. For what it's worth, you can shop at B&H on
Christmas Day if you came, or Easter Sunday. And had you looked at their
calendar on their web page, they list all of their schedule for the
month of October and you would have saved yourself a trip.

Steve Kramer
"PhotoEnvisions" Freelance Photography
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.photoenvisions.com


--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons, but in seeing
with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

If you had gone to Photoplus Expo in the Javits center, both B&H and
Adorama have booths there.

I am sympathetic to John's disappointment.

If New York City is, what, only 25% Jewish, you'd think a big
company like B&H would have enough trustworthy and competent staff to serve
its broader customer base.

On the other hand, B&H is not alone. My son tells me that the A&P
grocery store across the river in Hoboken closes on Saturday noon before
Easter, and doesn't open again until Monday morning. You'd think that the
only large grocery store in the little trendy town would want to better
serve its customer base.

Since I like B&H, I would be VERY disappointed if I made an effort to
go there only to find it closed--for me, sometimes it's years between visits
to NYC.

Bill

"carrigman" wrote in message
...
I'm just back from a trip to New York City where high on my agenda was a
visit to B&H to buy a Canon lens. Off I went one morning only to find the
store closed for the week. No word of explanation. No matter, there was
always Adorama. So I hightailed it down to West 18th Street only to find
myself, together with a bunch of other bemused photographers, staring at
shuttered windows and a notice saying they too were closed for the week!

All to do with a Jewish holiday, I understand. Surely they have enough
non-Jewish employees to cater for the rest of us? I didn't see any other
major New York stores closed for religious reasons and I think it is
outrageous for these two firms to treat its customers like this.

John,
Ireland

wrote in message
...

Yup, and things have changed. These businesses have opened for
business on Sundays, or not, or have passed from the scene. The
same with B&H. I wanted to order a flash and lens from B&H but
was unable to because of their holidays. I purchased them from a
competitor. This will either adversely affect B&H or not. Depending
on the numbers of people who do the same.

Oh, puleeze! Get off your friggin' soapbox. Where is it written that any
business must remain open 24/7 just to accommodate YOU?

On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 13:14:46 GMT, wrote:

On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 11:55:19 GMT, Gary Edstrom
wrote:

You know, it wasn't that many years ago in this country that virtually
all businesses were closed on Sunday. I can remember a time when the
only places open for business on Sundays were SOME grocery stores and
SOME gas stations. EVERYTHING else was closed.

Yup, and things have changed. These businesses have opened for
business on Sundays, or not, or have passed from the scene. The
same with B&H. I wanted to order a flash and lens from B&H but
was unable to because of their holidays. I purchased them from a
competitor. This will either adversely affect B&H or not. Depending
on the numbers of people who do the same. Free country and all
that. I suppose people of the Jewish faith are a little aggravated
when Christian businesses close down for a week or more during the
Christmas holidays. These posts about B&H and Adorama have
illustrated why I wish religious beliefs were mandated by law to be
*PRIVATE*. No public expression of religion allowed. Expression
of "religion" has caused more pain, death, and suffering than all
other causes in the history of mankind.

I'm not a religious person myself, but I have a strong belief in the
right of both businesses and consumers to operate as they see fit. If
a business only wants to open its doors on alternate Tuesdays, then
that's their right. Whether the market will support such a practice
is another matter, but that's besides the point.

Likewise, if I only buy from stores that are open on Sundays, have
green walls, and have door chimes that play "Ode to Joy", that's my
perogative as well. If that limits my choices, well, that's MY
problem, not the store owners'.

Since you're against public expression of religion, would you extend
that to outlawing religious clothing, hairstyles, and jewelry? I'm
just curious how far you're wanting to go with this.


--
Scott Gardner

"My veal cutlet tried to beat the **** out of my cup of coffee... the coffee just wasn't strong enough to defend himself. (Tom Waits)

carrigman wrote:

I'm just back from a trip to New York City where high on my agenda was a
visit to B&H to buy a Canon lens. Off I went one morning only to find the
store closed for the week. No word of explanation. No matter, there was
always Adorama. So I hightailed it down to West 18th Street only to find
myself, together with a bunch of other bemused photographers, staring at
shuttered windows and a notice saying they too were closed for the week!

All to do with a Jewish holiday, I understand. Surely they have enough
non-Jewish employees to cater for the rest of us? I didn't see any other
major New York stores closed for religious reasons and I think it is
outrageous for these two firms to treat its customers like this.

John,
Ireland



do stores that you frequent close for christmas? does that bother you?
private businesses are free to hold whichever hours they please....
I believe the websites and publications of these stores advertise their
holiday closings every year

"carrigman" a écrit dans le message
de ...

"Rita Ä Berkowitz" ritaberk2O04 @aol.com wrote
Look at it this way, John, they saved you the aggravation of having to
declare any property when you got back to Dublin.
Rita

Very true, Rita. I was worried about getting the lens through Customs&
Excise. What if my bags were checked and the lens discovered? I'd have to
pay a hefty tax on it. I arrived back in Ireland at 6am local time this
morning and guess what.....there was no Customs check! I could have
brought
in a raft of stuff and walked straight through. Which makes the stores
closures all the more annoying. Grrrr.

John


With your sense of rightness, I suppose you would have paid the taxes due
voluntarily if you had purchased a lens ?

Jean