Ritz Camera to close three Triangle stores

The three Triangle stores that are stopping operations function under the Wolf Camera brand. They are at Cary Towne Center mall, Durham, The Streets at Soutpoint mall, and Raleigh North Hills mixed-use center. With these closures, Ritz Camera will be left with eight Wolf Camera and two Ritz Camera in the Triangle.

Ritz Camera, the nation's largest specialized photographic and video equipment retailer, expects to see a reduction of nearly 50 percent in its national retail stores due to this downsizing. Approximately 400 Ritz camera locations will remain in operation while liquidating inventory.

Ritz is the nation's largest camera retail chain in 45 states. In February, the company had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This was a direct outcome of a drop in consumer spending and dipping sales.

The operation of the stores has been handed over to a liquidation company. Each store will begin liquidating merchandise and will individually close once all the remaining merchandise and store fixtures have been sold off.

The company said it wants liquidators to bid for rights to oversee sales. If more than one acceptable bid is received, it will hold an auction. Liquidation sales begin on April 4 which will continue until, "Everything is sold to the bare walls," according to the company.

More than $50 million of merchandise will be up for grabs during the sale.

The company started with a single store in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Its retail brands today include Wolf Camera, Kits Cameras, Inkley’s and The Camera Shop.

Ritz first acquired Wolf Camera in 2001 after the chain sought bankruptcy protection. In 1998, Wolf had acquired Denver-based Robert Waxman Camera Inc and had converted Waxman stores into the Wolf retail chain outlet.