Willoughby's, which proclaims itself (the world's) Largest Camera (department) Store,[1] was described in 1997 by The New York Times as "New York City's oldest camera store."[2] It was founded by Charles G. Willoughby in 1898,[3] By 1963 the store operated as Willoughby and Peerless Camera,[4] and simply Willoughby-Peerless (without the word Camera) by 1992; by 2010 ownership had shifted, and the name once again was simply Willoughby's.[5]

Competition

For a while, the 1967-founded 47th Street Photo, about which tourists with a halting English would mistakenly ask for 47th Street Camera,[6][7] was a geographically not too distant competitor, but 47th closed a year before Willoughby's celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Other areas in which the store competed were computers and other business machines, and a film lab.[1]

Ownership

Ownership of Willoughby's has always been private. In the over a century since its founding by Mr. Willoughby, including the period when one or more of "Peerless",[8] "Camera", "Emporium"[9] "Department" and "Store" were part of its name, it has been owned by various others. Most recently these have included:[1]

  • Erich Hirschfeld,[4] who had formerly managed the business, purchased it in 1963
  • Berkey, Inc., "which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings"[1] in 1988
  • Queen Street Camera Inc., a Canadian firm that, eight years after its own founding acquired Willoughby's
  • Joseph Douek[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Receipts said "Largest Camera Department Store." Isadore Barmash (October 24, 1988). "Willoughby's Is Sold for $1 Million". The New York times. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  2. ↑ "In Digital Age, Willoughby's Remakes". The New York Times. November 20, 1997. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  3. ↑ "C.G. WILLOUGHBY, CAMERA DEALER; Founder in '98 of Photographic Supply Store Bearing His Name Is Dead at 84". The New York Times. June 9, 1951. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "EXECUTIVE QUITS CAMERA RETAILER; Willoughby-Peerless Chief to Buy 2 of Its Divisions". The New York Times. August 29, 1963. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Selim Algar (November 18, 2013). "Crook gets 20 years for Brooklyn robbery, Ferrari joyride". The New York Post. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  6. ↑ "About New York". The New York Times. January 8, 1983.
  7. ↑ "Re: 47th Street Camera". Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com). August 3, 2020.
  8. ↑ "and Willoughby's Peerless Camera Stores." Robert D. McFadden (November 23, 1984). "Maxwell H. Gluck Dies at 85; Businessman and Ex-Envoy". The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  9. ↑ Josh Alan Friedman (October 7, 2021). "Stop the Empire Station complex: Penn Station's ghost still haunts New York". The New York Daily News. Retrieved September 25, 2022.


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