Castanet

OKkayak wrote:I just happened to go by the store on Broadway/Granville yesterday. There was no contact information on the doors, just white pieces of paper saying "Closed". I can check again today, maybe I missed something.

Kelowna is just "Closed for Renovations"

I sent a FB message to Henry's yesterday and received the reply quoted below from them today.
FYI - I also deleted my FB post to them on the Henry's page.

Hi,
To clarify for you, no we did not take over any of Lens & Shutters stores nor buy the Lens and Shutter business. Our Vancouver store is our own we built from the ground up and when Lens and Shutter closed down in Victoria we leased the old space where their Victoria store used to be. We did not buy the Lens & Shutter company or have taken over any of their operations. We unfortunately have nothing to do with L&S dealings or transactions but we are very sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them. The businesses are 100% separate. We can’t speak to what is happening to their other 2 locations as we aren’t the L&S company but we have no involvement with them.

So short of finding the L&S people personally - it looks like all of us that are owed money - consignments - film that was supposed to be developed etc. are just out of luck.....

It may be a bit of a long shot, but have you tied contacting any of the local photography clubs? There's several on FB, and I'm quite certain some had dealings with the owners of L&S. Since you're already on FB it might be worth hitting them up. Just a suggestion. Sorry to hear you're out gear/money at someone else's poor business practices.

Good luck to all in getting any kind of satisfaction from Lens and Shutter...……...this kind of happens everyday when business's close...…...especially out of the blue. I am willing to bet that EVERY business closure screws somebody down the line. Closing "secretly" is always to the owners best interest unfortunately.

Someone took down the web redirect down.

kgcayenne wrote:Someone took down the web redirect down.

I may be responsible for that.
I mentioned to them in our FB conversation, that the redirect and timing of the renting of the Victoria storefront, implied that Henry's had connections to L&S.
Henry's says that L&S owners did the redirect as a courtesy for their old customers to be able to go somewhere.
They also stated a couple of times that they have / had nothing to do with L&S business.
They state the Victoria storefront became available - they liked it and rented it.
No connection at all to L&S.

In this case perception is a large part of the problem (for me anyway).
The re-direct seemed to happen the same day as the shutdown.
That suggests to me a partnership or handshake deal at the very least.

I think Henry's is now realizing that it was a really bad idea, with all of us that are left, holding the bag.

As I and others have said - I/ we will probably never see anything out of this.
IMO - it is doubtful that the ownership of L&S will even make the attempt to contact any of us, even to make an apology for our losses.
I could be wrong on that, but will not hold my breath waiting....

I double checked the Vancouver store, absolutely no contact information to be seen anywhere. Sorry, but I do hope you find a resolve

Is it possible to check with City Hall and find out who the owner was and then go after them in small claims court?

Bsuds wrote:Is it possible to check with City Hall and find out who the owner was and then go after them in small claims court?

I gave the owners name on page 2 of this thread. I also suggested that a small claims proceeding be filed against the company (the company held the goods - not the owner) as we do not know whether they have filed for bankruptcy, and if they haven't, a small claims judgement would change status from unsecured to secured creditor. As for local camera clubs, they are as much in the dark on this as everyone else.

lensbaby wrote:

Bsuds wrote:Is it possible to check with City Hall and find out who the owner was and then go after them in small claims court?

I gave the owners name on page 2 of this thread. I also suggested that a small claims proceeding be filed against the company (the company held the goods - not the owner) as we do not know whether they have filed for bankruptcy, and if they haven't, a small claims judgement would change status from unsecured to secured creditor. As for local camera clubs, they are as much in the dark on this as everyone else.

Except you said :

It was sold after that bankruptcy to Harv King and his wife.

It is actually Roy and Julie King

Kerrisdale Cameras still exists, they are a BC company.

obtunded wrote:Kerrisdale Cameras still exists, they are a BC company.

They aren’t in Kelowna. The whole valley is now unsupported. London Drugs is what’s left. There are no more independent stores.

Too bad. Funny how at one time there were two or three independent camera stores in town and now they're all gone. Same thing with stereo stores. I used to love to go in and listen to different systems/components.

techrtr wrote:Too bad. Funny how at one time there were two or three independent camera stores in town and now they're all gone. Same thing with stereo stores. I used to love to go in and listen to different systems/components.

I'm with you there!

Truly a shame...……..the only audio place in Kelowna that sells higher end audio equipment is HiFi Attic on Ellice. Even at that, other than Bryston, the rest of their lines have what I consider better "profit margins" thus they will push them. The hey day of audio equipment was the 70's and 80's...……….still the best compared to the "throw away" electronics of today that you see at Andre's, Best Buy and London Drugs. Speakers today have to be "cute" and "fashionable"...……...polypropylene junk speakers. You just have to go onto Castanet and see all of the garbage for sale and much of it from under $100 to a few hundred that was a whopping $1000 plus new. In the past year I have seen 3 pairs of used speakers for sale that are amazing...…….15" Tannoys (1970's) for about $4000, JBL L300"s 15" (1970's) about $5000 and most recently a pair of Altec 19"s 15" for about $5000. All of these speakers will outlast all of us with care PLUS provide sound (music) as it was meant to be heard. New in the late 70's and early 80's these were $2000-$2500 "top of the line". Home theatre, buy what ever junk you want because that is exactly what you get.

Back to camera's...……..I have a feeling that one of the 2 main Vancouver chains or maybe Henry's will open up here...…...just too much of a market to ignore. They will succeed if they are staffed by true cameraphiles and have a stocked inventory, including used.

If I had a paid-off mortgage, I’d soooooooo work in a well-run camera store. It would be a joy.