If you walked down West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan during the late 70s or early 80s, you weren't just in the Diamond District. You were in the epicenter of a consumer electronics revolution that most people today have totally forgotten. Long before Amazon was a glint in Jeff Bezos's eye, and way before B&H Photo Video became the behemoth of Ninth Avenue, there was 47th St Photo NYC. It was chaotic. It was loud. It was cramped. And for about two decades, it was basically the only place on the planet where you could get a cutting-edge Japanese camera or a primitive personal computer without paying a massive markup.
Honestly, the store shouldn't have worked. It was located on the second floor of a non-descript building, often requiring customers to squeeze past diamond dealers and security guards just to find the entrance. But it did work. It worked so well that it became a cultural touchstone for New Yorkers and tech geeks worldwide.
The Rise of a Grey Market Empire
The story of 47th St Photo is really the story of the "grey market." Back then, manufacturers like Nikon, Canon, and Sony had strict controls over who could sell their gear and at what price. They wanted "authorized dealers" to keep prices high. 47th St Photo, founded by Leah and Irving Goldstein, basically ignored that entire playbook. They sourced products from overseas markets where the exchange rates were favorable or where surpluses existed, and they passed those savings directly to the consumer.
It was a volume game.
They weren't interested in holding your hand or explaining how a f-stop worked for forty minutes. You went there because you knew exactly what you wanted—say, a Nikon F3 or one of those early, brick-like cellular phones—and you wanted it for three hundred dollars less than the department store uptown was charging. The salespeople were famously "curt." That’s a polite way of saying they were often incredibly impatient. If you hesitated, the guy behind the counter was already looking at the person behind you in line. It was a high-pressure, high-reward environment that defined the gritty, fast-paced New York retail scene of that era.
Why the Tech World Cared
In the mid-1980s, if you were a "computer person," 47th St Photo was your Mecca. This was the dawn of the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh. While most stores were selling these machines as luxury items, 47th St Photo treated them like commodities. They ran massive, multi-page advertisements in the New York Times and PC Magazine that looked like stock market tickers—just rows and rows of tiny text listing every conceivable peripheral, cable, and software disk.
They were early adopters of mail-order. Think about that for a second. Before the internet, they were shipping delicate, multi-thousand-dollar electronics across the country based on a phone call and a credit card number. They built a massive warehouse in Brooklyn just to handle the logistics. People from middle America would see those ads, marvel at the prices, and take a leap of faith. Most of the time, it paid off. You got your gear. It was "grey market," meaning it might have come with a manual in Japanese or lacked a US warranty, but 47th St Photo usually provided their own in-house warranty to bridge the gap.
The Decline and the Shift in New York Retail
So, what happened? Why aren't we all still buying our mirrorless cameras from 47th St Photo NYC?
The downfall wasn't one single event; it was a slow strangulation by several different forces. First, the big manufacturers fought back. Companies like Nikon and Sony started tightening their distribution channels, making it harder for "unauthorized" shops to get inventory. They also started enforcing "Minimum Advertised Price" (MAP) policies, which killed the competitive edge of the deep discounters.
Then, there was the competition. B&H Photo Video and Adorama—both of which started with similar roots in the Jewish community of New York—began to professionalize. They built massive, clean, high-tech showrooms. They invested heavily in customer service and specialized expertise. They realized that while people love a bargain, they also love not being yelled at by a guy in a crowded 2nd-floor walk-up.
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By the early 90s, the company was struggling. There were legal battles over taxes and financial management. In 1992, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. They tried to pivot. They tried to downsize and focus on different niches, but the magic was gone. The retail landscape had shifted toward the "Big Box" model of Best Buy and the rising tide of e-commerce.
The Realities of the "NYC Camera Store" Reputation
If you look at old forums or talk to photographers who lived through that era, you’ll hear a lot of mixed reviews. Some people swear they got the best deal of their life there. Others talk about "bait and switch" tactics—a common accusation against many NYC camera shops of that period. You’d see a low price in an ad, show up, and be told that the item was "out of stock," but they had a "better" (and more expensive) version ready to go.
Did 47th St Photo do this?
Some customers certainly felt that way. However, many industry experts argue that the Goldsteins were actually more legitimate than many of the fly-by-night operations that popped up around them. They were a massive operation with a reputation to protect, even if that reputation included some New York "gruffness."
Lessons for Today’s Shoppers
Even though the physical storefront on 47th Street is a ghost of the past, the DNA of that business lives on in how we shop today. Here are the actionable takeaways for anyone looking to navigate the modern electronics market:
- Verify the Warranty: The "grey market" still exists. If you see a lens on a major marketplace that is 30% cheaper than everywhere else, it’s likely an international version. It’s a legitimate product, but the manufacturer (Nikon, Sony, etc.) will likely refuse to repair it, even if you offer to pay. You are relying entirely on the seller's warranty.
- The Price of Service: 47th St Photo proved that you can have the lowest price or the best service, but rarely both. If you are buying a complex piece of gear you don't understand, pay the extra 5-10% to buy from a place that offers support. If you are a pro who knows exactly what you need, hunt for the discounters.
- Read the "Small Print" in Ads: Just as 47th St Photo used those dense NYT ads, modern retailers use "bundle" listings to hide the fact that they are including cheap, third-party accessories (filters, bags, tripods) to justify a higher price on a base unit.
- The Value of Reputation: Places like B&H survived and thrived because they moved away from the "transactional" model of 47th St Photo and toward an "educational" model. In the long run, the market rewards the experts.
If you find yourself on 47th Street today, you’ll see plenty of gold and diamonds. But if you look up at the second-floor windows, you can almost imagine the stacks of Commodore 64s and Hasselblads that used to define that block. It was a specific moment in time—unrefined, incredibly fast, and quintessentially New York. It changed how we buy tech forever.
To truly understand the legacy, look at your own buying habits. Every time you compare five different tabs for the lowest price on a new phone, you’re channeling the spirit of a 1982 shopper standing in line at 47th St Photo, waiting for their turn at the counter.
How to Research Vintage Tech Origins
- Check the Serial Numbers: If you happen to find a vintage camera with a "47th St Photo" sticker, check the serial number against regional databases. This often confirms if it was a grey-market import.
- Archive.org is your friend: You can actually find scans of the old 47th St Photo catalogs. Looking at the prices from 1985 adjusted for inflation is a wild exercise in seeing how far technology has come.
- Local Forums: Sites like Photo.net have threads dating back decades where old-timers discuss their experiences at the shop. It’s the best way to get a feel for the "vibe" that no corporate history will ever capture.
The era of the "electronics bazaar" in Midtown might be over, but the lessons in supply chain and consumer demand remain as relevant as ever. Price is a powerful motivator, but trust is the only thing that keeps a business alive for the long haul.