Bob Atkins Photography: February 2009

UPDATE 1-Ritz Camera files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters

UPDATE 1-Ritz Camera files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters: "NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Ritz Camera Centers Inc, which said it is the largest U.S. specialty camera and imaging chain, on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, hurt by the recession and consumers' shift to digital photography.
The Beltsville, Maryland-based company filed for protection from creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware. Ritz said it has between $100 million and $500 million of both assets and liabilities.
Ritz operates under such names as Ritz Camera, Wolf Camera, Kits Cameras, Inkley's and The Camera Shops, and also operates the 130-store Boater's World Marine Centers chain. It said it had nearly $1 billion of revenue in the year ended Nov. 30, 2008."

New York Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now@International Center of Photography - Events

New York Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now@International Center of Photography - Events: "The true beauty of all those glossy fashion editorial images that you see in magazines doesn't merely lie in the product or the model, but in the photographer's message and the versatility of the themes exposed. Just in time for Fashion Week, the International Center of Photography examines these images in Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now"

Cell phone pic gets park visitor busted in a snap

Cell phone pic gets park visitor busted in a snap: "It was a bum rap.
Actor Robert Kabakoff snapped a photo of a woman's bottom as she sunned herself in Central Park on April 22 because he thought it would make a good 'slice-of-life' postcard...
Before he knew it, the woman was talking to cops and Kabakoff was handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser...
During the next 18 hours, he was charged with 'unlawful surveillance,' a felony, and spent the night in jail. The charge was later dropped, and Kabakoff sued...
The NYPD admitted no wrongdoing, but the city settled for $8,000."

Olympus expects loss

Bloomberg.com: Japan: "Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Olympus Corp., the world’s biggest maker of endoscopes, expects to swing to a full-year net loss as the stronger yen erodes overseas earnings and digital camera prices drop.
The company expects to post a 45 billion yen net loss ($495 million) in the year to March 31, reversing its outlook from the 19 billion yen profit it forecast on Nov. 6, according to a statement the company filed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange today.
Tokyo-based Olympus joins larger rivals Canon Inc. and Nikon Corp., the world’s two largest digital-camera makers, in reporting worsening earnings. Global digital camera shipments by volume will fall 0.7 percent this year, the Tokyo-based Camera & Imaging Products Association said on Jan. 27, the first decline since the group began tracking shipments in 2003."

Texas Attorney General sues ripoff photo stores

Texas Attorney General: "AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged two online digital camera and electronics retailers with conducting an unlawful bait-and-switch sales scheme. Today’s enforcement action seeks restitution for Texans who suffered financially because of the defendants’ unlawful conduct.

According to state investigators, Broadway Photo, L.L.C. and Starlight Camera & Video Inc., both of Brooklyn, N.Y., attempted to attract customers by offering the lowest retail prices on price-comparison Web sites. Once customers selected merchandise and made credit card purchases via the defendants’ Web sites, customers were notified that their orders had been processed. Despite the order-processing notice, customers were subsequently asked to call a specified telephone number to confirm their orders."