Discuss Detroit » Archives - March 2009 » Venerable Adrays of Dearborn Falls « Previous Next »
Adray Appliance ClosesSmogboy02-21-09  8:13 am
  ClosedNew threads cannot be started on this page. The threads above are previous posts made to this thread.        

Top of pageBottom of page

Lowell
Moderator
Username: Lowell

Post Number: 2216
Registered: 09-2003
Posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 - 11:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Been there since the fifties and one of the most respected camera and photography shops in the D. Sad. Between the web and the crash it was too much.

I will always remember them for supporting the Adray Baseball League from whence a lot of major league players emerged.
Top of pageBottom of page

Gannon
Member
Username: Gannon

Post Number: 9026
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 - 11:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Whoa, did this happen today?

A friend just showed me a few pictures he took there...and I thought it was days ago...if not yesterday.

Funny, they went from local favorite to competition villans after I hired into Tech Hifi after High School in Dearborn.

The guy was almost single-handedly Mr. Sports in Dearborn...whatever the season. Hockey or baseball...I cannot remember if he sponsored any other sport, though. But that logo was EVERYWHERE, and branded a bunch of youth into loyal customers for life.

I don't remember anyone buying cameras or luggage anywhere else...
Top of pageBottom of page

Huggybear
Member
Username: Huggybear

Post Number: 279
Registered: 08-2005
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 12:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ditto on the "when was this?"
Top of pageBottom of page

Kova
Member
Username: Kova

Post Number: 223
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 1:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

www.deepsaidwhat.com
Top of pageBottom of page

Gsgeorge
Member
Username: Gsgeorge

Post Number: 725
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 1:38 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Really sad, but I am happy to see that they are thinking of moving to a smaller space. That means they'll still be able to order for us if they don't have things in stock, and best of all their staff will still be around in some capacity (right?). As a photographer, I would make the drive to Adray even though other stores were closer because of their incredibly knowledgeable and attentive staff. I promised myself it would be the only camera/photo store I would go to after years of terrible experiences at the mediocre Woodward Camera in Birmingham and after dealing with high prices & rude staff at Camera Mart in Pontiac. Adray will be missed.
Top of pageBottom of page

Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289

Post Number: 931
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 2:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Also sad to see it go. When I was a younger Adrays was the place to go.They seemed to have it all.
Top of pageBottom of page

Softailrider
Member
Username: Softailrider

Post Number: 279
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 5:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Too many folks out to save a few bucks by purchasing on the internet or at China Mart. Try getting some good camera advice from the clerk at Wallmart.

Say you need some fishing gear, you can go to an actual sporting goods store and get waited on by someone who knows and enjoys fishing, or, you can go to Wallmart save a buck or two and get help from some clerk who doesn't know a fish hook from a box of condoms.
Top of pageBottom of page

Beech_cricker
Member
Username: Beech_cricker

Post Number: 58
Registered: 10-2008
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 10:48 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gsgeorge,
I must admit I have only dealt with Camera Mart on a limit basis but I had no issue with their service and their pricing, at least for enlargements, was far more competitive than Adray (this was about a year ago). I've long thought Adray's photo department was pricey. Having said that I find it sad they have to close (and I'm not buying this retirement thing).--Jeff
Top of pageBottom of page

Detroitnerd
Member
Username: Detroitnerd

Post Number: 3546
Registered: 07-2004
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 10:52 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I used to buy all my old Super 8 film at Adray. Bummer.
Top of pageBottom of page

Big_baby_jebus
Member
Username: Big_baby_jebus

Post Number: 70
Registered: 09-2008
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 10:56 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

just got back from picking up a new camera 20min. ago. Got me a Fuji S100, its so nice.

There was a huge line of people waiting like vultures. The old lady behind the counter said they are NOT really closing, they are currently looking at moving to a smaller store location.

I sure hope she's right!
Top of pageBottom of page

Birdie
Member
Username: Birdie

Post Number: 119
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 11:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

NONONONONONONONONO!!!!!! i love adray. i just bought my new camera there last summer. i hope they move...maybe downtown?
Top of pageBottom of page

Crystal
Member
Username: Crystal

Post Number: 380
Registered: 05-2007
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 1:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

We heard the news this morning on WJR.

Our whole family totes (in some cases, lugs) binoculars, cameras big and small, tripods, and lenses around, all from Adray.

My brother bought some nice - and I do mean nice - Leica binoculars from Adray fiftenn years ago, and to this day Duncan says a kind word about Adray's Jerry Sadowski whenever he bird watches.
Top of pageBottom of page

East_detroit
Member
Username: East_detroit

Post Number: 1965
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 1:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Great, now where will I get my medium format 120 film developed?
Top of pageBottom of page

Gsgeorge
Member
Username: Gsgeorge

Post Number: 726
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 6:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

East_Detroit, try Titan Professional Printing in Troy. They have a very knowledgeable and attentive staff & will meet all your development & printing needs without having to send your film out.
Top of pageBottom of page

Brownfieldguy
Member
Username: Brownfieldguy

Post Number: 34
Registered: 02-2009
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 - 6:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I am glad to hear that they are not closing. This economy would make it hard for a specialty provider such as Adray to stay in business.

I tried to frequent their former location in Troy, but unfortunately found their staff to be elitist and arrogant. It really turned me off.
Top of pageBottom of page

Huggybear
Member
Username: Huggybear

Post Number: 280
Registered: 08-2005
Posted on Saturday, February 21, 2009 - 10:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm sad it's closing, but it's mostly sentimental. Some of it was a lack of price competitiveness in consumer goods - but their photography business (what became the core of Adrays) was fantastically mismanaged.
Top of pageBottom of page

Zephyrprocess
Member
Username: Zephyrprocess

Post Number: 644
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Sunday, February 22, 2009 - 1:59 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Whether it was mismanaged or not, their photography business is what will persist in whatever future form Adray's assumes. They just can't support a store the size of the current footprint on the camera business alone.
Top of pageBottom of page

Beech_cricker
Member
Username: Beech_cricker

Post Number: 60
Registered: 10-2008
Posted on Sunday, February 22, 2009 - 10:13 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Other than an employee or two stating that Adray's is not closing but simply going to move g into a smaller location, has there been any official word on this from ownership? Their ad in Friday's Freep simply says "the Adray Family has decided to retire and close their store in Dearborn." If this "retirement" is to believed, that certainly does not sound like they may be moving into a smaller store. Instead, it indicates they are going out of business.

Interestingly, Adray's website says nothing about these current events--it implies business as usual. What a strange way to run a business.
Top of pageBottom of page

Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289

Post Number: 939
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Monday, February 23, 2009 - 1:29 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I had onetime heard that Adray's was going to move to that big chain shopping center just down Outer Dr. I drove past Adrays while going to the Lowes store. I felt kinda sad knowing that Adrays would not be at their original location.That being said I got talked into finally buying a digital camera, Should see what they got at Adrays.

(Message edited by reddog289 on February 23, 2009)
Top of pageBottom of page

Gsgeorge
Member
Username: Gsgeorge

Post Number: 727
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Monday, February 23, 2009 - 1:36 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Interestingly, Adray's website says nothing about these current events--it implies business as usual. What a strange way to run a business.


Quite the contrary. They have said they want to keep the online store running, and anyway why would they bother saying they're retiring to their online customers, many of whom are out-of-state and know nothing about the history of Adrays in Dearborn (the magic of the Internet)? They could potentially turn away wary online shoppers with such an announcement on the website.
Top of pageBottom of page

Beech_cricker
Member
Username: Beech_cricker

Post Number: 64
Registered: 10-2008
Posted on Monday, February 23, 2009 - 12:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gsgeorge, good point, I think. I understand what you're saying about out of staters or those that shop their only on line. But what about those looking for info on their store? They DO mention their store in the upper right corner with their address. It just seemed odd that they wouldn't say anything about their store closing and sales as a result.--Jeff
Top of pageBottom of page

Mallory
Member
Username: Mallory

Post Number: 324
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 9:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Super 8, projector lamps, stereos, I bought it all at Adray's. Went to Highland once because they had a reel-to-reel priced where I could afford it over the Adray one (I was 16, what did I know), but everything else was purchased at Adray. It was like going to a hardware store. You could truly talk shop there. Great place, great staff, and very representative of what is missing at the big boxes these days. No community service, just big BIG savings!!! GMAB. I will definitely miss Adray's.
Top of pageBottom of page

Island
Member
Username: Island

Post Number: 60
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - 12:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Adray sponsored my Dearborn softball team for 14 years, '72-'86. You couldn't go to one of Dearborn's dozen ballfields without seeing Adray advertised on someone's jersey. A new/less talented team would get silkscreened T-shirts. The more you won, the more you got. We would sit down late winter with an Adray guy and get our new 'budget', which was all on account only at Big Bill's sporting goods on Ford Rd. After many years we had accumulated a LOT of stuff...multiple uniforms/shorts/bats/bags/jack ets etc. After winning Men's B one year, made the jump to Men's A and a way bigger budget...2 complete uniforms (lights/darks, pants/shorts) embroidered sewn team logos. There was also an order to the Adray team name you received, which I think was Adray Appliance, then Photo, Camera, Sound ...of course, we bought eveything at Adray (player discount if you knew who to talk to). Mention "Never on Sunday's" to the local boomers, they'll know what what your talking about.

Add Your Message Here
Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.