Stuff I've Learned: Go to B&H Photo Around 3 pm on a Weekday

Ah! B&H Photo, how I love thee and dread thee! There are other photo stores in the city, of course--J&R, Adorama, etc.--but for sheer volume of inventory and selection, you can't beat B&H. Which is why I suck it up and trek down to 9th and 34th once a year or so to get my photo fix. Also, I'm very nostalgic about B&H. I ordered my very first Nikon SLR from them via their catalog many many years ago when I was a fledgling photographer.

So let me tell you something--I've gone to B&H Photo twice in the last two days. The first time in Sunday to purchase the item; the second time yesterday to exchange said item for a better one. Sunday was a zoo--complete pandemonium. There are 50+ customer service stations in the digital photo area and there was still a line at least 20 people deep. They had a little picnic table set up downstairs with refreshments to keep their customers happy. Nice touch. Still, the crowds made want to swear off the thrills of the conveyor belt delivery system and multi-step purchase process (select item, get guy to write up ticket for item, pay for item, pick up item) and never come back.

But alas, our hasty purchase (motivated by our great desire to leave the store in a hurry, I think) meant I had to go back for an exchange. But yesterday, I went in the afternoon, and there was no line. Night and day! I asked the guy if it was always this slow on weekdays and he told me I'd missed the rush. "Come before 3," he said. "That's when it slows down."

I know a lot of you are working at 3 pm on weekdays, but I thought I'd pass this along, just in case you find yourself in need of photo equipment and you happen to have the afternoon off.

Note: Check out the comment left by Henry from B&H. Their expansion will be done in the fall. And btw, he says mornings are better and so are Mondays and Tuesdays.