Willoughby's

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. 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. "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. 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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