# B&H Megastore --- what the fuck kind of way to run a store is this?? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013 "2010-09-16T20:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/41 "2010-09-17T15:04:04Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Anyhow, it’s a regionalism. There used to be a lot of stores that had this model in the area. B&H is probably the only survivor I can think of that isn’t something like a carpet store or something. BrandsMart is really big in the Atlanta area. Similar model, but they’ll haggle with you. The prices are very hard to beat. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/42 "2010-09-17T15:19:50Z")
It was your first visit, and you’re upset because they do things a little differently than any other store? I’m sorry, but I can’t understand your outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/43 "2010-09-17T15:21:03Z")
Having only bought from them online, I have to agree with all the nice things that everybody has said about B&H. Buying in person sounds annoying, but if it allows them to keep prices down, so be it. As for the bitching about religiously motivated shopping inconvenience, consider Sunday. It’s one half of the days off that the average person gets; you’d think that businesses would try to make the most of it. Instead, we get shortened hours or just locked doors, giant traffic jams near churches, and fucked up rules about buying alcohol. When you buy something online on Sunday, does it really get processed and shipped that day? Not usually in my experience. So what’s the difference if one company has a different ‘nothing gets done’ day than most others? I should’ve known what I was getting into when I saw that ‘closed on Sunday’ sign at Chick-Fil-A. Motherfuckers, I just want a chicken sandwich on my day off, not a fucking spiritual revelation! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/44 "2010-09-17T16:01:48Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > And no, their web site is not closed on the Sabbath, just the order-taking part of it is. Annoying and strange as a business model, but I can live with it. Once I couldn’t, and ordered from someone else – that’s the chance they’ll have to take if religion intrudes into business. As an atheist, i have no particular interest at all in observing Jewish (or any other religious) holidays, but i actually find it kind of refreshing, in these modern times, that a company is willing to refuse to take people’s money at certain times in order to follow the religious or cultural beliefs of its owners and employees. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/45 "2010-09-17T16:13:37Z")
Didn’t it seem odd to you that for every item they sold they only had one on the shelf? Did you think they really only stocked one of each item? Or that after you bought the one off the shelf someone would immediately run in the back room to get another to replace it? Maybe it’s just me but if I was shopping and there were no stock of items lying around it would kind of set off a common sense flag that it may be a showroom/warehouse setup. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/46 "2010-09-17T16:14:37Z")
What’s refreshing about it? I find it annoying, as a customer, to be deprived of the ability to buy something I want because of someone else’s religious beliefs. Do you also find it refreshing not to be able to buy beer on sundays? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/47 "2010-09-17T16:20:55Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > BrandsMart is really big in the Atlanta area. Similar model, but they’ll haggle with you. The prices are very hard to beat. I went into a BrandsMart to buy a battery one day. It was my first, and will be my last visit. It was the architectural equivalent of a migraine headache: a deafening, phantasmagoric nightmare in day-glo orange and neon blue. I wouldn’t go back inside the place if it were hailing fireballs outside. What a horrible, inhuman experience. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/48 "2010-09-17T17:33:24Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What’s refreshing about it? I find it annoying, as a customer, to be deprived of the ability to buy something I want because of someone else’s religious beliefs. Do you also find it refreshing not to be able to buy beer on sundays? Then shop somewhere else on Saturday. Nobody’s forcing you to buy there. Store owners can close their store on any day they like, for any reason they like. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/49 "2010-09-17T17:49:37Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What’s refreshing about it? I find it annoying, as a customer, to be deprived of the ability to buy something I want because of someone else’s religious beliefs. Do you also find it refreshing not to be able to buy beer on sundays? If my ability to buy beer on Sundays is curbed by government-mandated “blue” laws or other state-imposed restrictions, then i find it annoying. But this is different. If private business owners, for whatever cultural or personal reason (be it religious or secular), decide that they want to close their business in order to actually have a life and to do the things that are important to them, then i say good luck to them. In a world where so much is driven by money and by a consumer mentality of “I should be able to have whatever i want whenever i want it,” i actually do find the willingness to put personal principles and beliefs before money to be somewhat refreshing. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/50 "2010-09-17T18:23:01Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Then shop somewhere else on Saturday. Nobody’s forcing you to buy there. Store owners can close their store on any day they like, for any reason they like. That’s all well understood. Is he allowed to find it annoying, though? Just asking, because I find it annoying sometimes and I’d hate to be breaking any kind of rule by giving my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/51 "2010-09-17T18:26:57Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What’s refreshing about it? I find it annoying, as a customer, to be deprived of the ability to buy something I want because of someone else’s religious beliefs. Do you also find it refreshing not to be able to buy beer on sundays? Blue laws are mandated by a state, county or local government. Sabbath hours are established by the business itself, and not mandated by the state. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/52 "2010-09-17T18:34:09Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > The OP’s description reminds me of the one time we had to have dealings with the Washington DC beaurocracy for parking passes. IIRC, we had to bring our paperwork to one person who looked at it and stamped it. Then to another person who looked at the stamp and took our fee. Then to a third person who gave us the actual parking pass. Fortunately, the time we went it wasn’t busy, so none of the lines we were in were more than one or two people deep. There was a hotdog stand that used to be in suburban Buffalo that had an ordering system that seemed quite … well, Soviet. You ordered hot dogs in one window. You picked them up in another window. French fries and onion rings - another two windows for ordering and pickup. Soft drinks - same thing. After you got everything, you carried the tray to yet another window, and paid for it. The old farts in the area are actually nostalgic for the place, fondly recalling that place on Sheridan Drive where one had to go through seven steps just to get a hot dog, fries and a Coke. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/53 "2010-09-17T19:05:17Z")
It sounds like the OP went a department store in the Soviet Union. One line to select merchandise, another to pay for it, and a 3rd to actually receive it. Counter service all the way. :dubious: Which makes sense; if your goal is to employ as many people as possible with busywork. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/54 "2010-09-17T19:14:35Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > > > The OP’s description reminds me of the one time we had to have dealings with the Washington DC beaurocracy for parking passes. IIRC, we had to bring our paperwork to one person who looked at it and stamped it. Then to another person who looked at the stamp and took our fee. Then to a third person who gave us the actual parking pass. Fortunately, the time we went it wasn’t busy, so none of the lines we were in were more than one or two people deep. > > There was a hotdog stand that used to be in suburban Buffalo that had an ordering system that seemed quite … well, Soviet. You ordered hot dogs in one window. You picked them up in another window. French fries and onion rings - another two windows for ordering and pickup. Soft drinks - same thing. After you got everything, you carried the tray to yet another window, and paid for it. The old farts in the area are actually nostalgic for the place, fondly recalling that place on Sheridan Drive where one had to go through seven steps just to get a hot dog, fries and a Coke. The one across from the Putt Putt? Ted’s, I think??? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/55 "2010-09-17T20:05:18Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > That’s all well understood. Is he allowed to find it annoying, though? > > Just asking, because I find it annoying sometimes and I’d hate to be breaking any kind of rule by giving my opinion. He’s welcome to find it annoying. But remember, his first contribution was in that post was a response to my post, in which he said: “What’s refreshing about it?” I assume, if he’s allowed to find it annoying, i’m allowed to find it refreshing. He also drew an inappropriate and irrelevant comparison between government-mandated blue laws, on the one hand, and the personal decisions of a private business owner, on the other. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/56 "2010-09-17T20:06:42Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > It sounds like the OP went a department store in the Soviet Union. One line to select merchandise, another to pay for it, and a 3rd to actually receive it. Counter service all the way. :dubious: Which makes sense; if your goal is to employ as many people as possible with busywork. Actually, if you would step inside B&H and just watch how many people they serve, and how efficiently the system runs, i think you’d probably rescind your silly comparison. One good thing about the system is that it reserves most of the fairly simple, procedural work for staff members with an appropriate level of training, leaving the more expert staff members more time to spend actually helping customers with technical and other product selection issues. The camera people who work there really know their shit, and while i’ve never purchased a computer or a television from them, i’ve heard others say that the computer and electronics people also know what they’re talking about. If you want a store where every employee is simply an interchangeable cog in a machine, equally (in)capable of ringing up your sale and telling you about the specs of the latest piece of gadgetry, you can always go to Best Buy. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/57 "2010-09-17T21:02:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What’s refreshing about it? I find it annoying, as a customer, to be deprived of the ability to buy something I want because of someone else’s religious beliefs. Do you also find it refreshing not to be able to buy beer on sundays? This happens every day to non-Christians in the country! Saturday is my sabbath, so if I want to do my weekend shopping I am limited to stores that are open on Sunday or break my sabbath. My favorite shoe store has a sign on it’s door on Sunday’s saying “closed- Sunday is for families”. Well, not my family! I deal with this all the time. Hell, my ability to celebrate just about every holiday I have is influenced by other people’s religions (my kids have an Easter break, but not Passover; Good Friday off, but not Rosh Hashana etc). So I deal with it and get along with my life. So can you. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/58 "2010-09-17T21:40:16Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > you can always go to Best Buy. No, “You Go To B&H!” (I only heard that commercial a few thousand times). Us New Yorkers got used to Sabbath hours (well, I did anyway) via 47th St. Photo back in the '80s (they even had a branch in East Meadow, Long Island, near enough for me to pick up then (kinda) state-of-the-art computer components at (kinda) reasonable prices. I think they did have a few women working the counters at that location. I don’t remember their Manhattan store operation that well, but I think it a bit convoluted like B&H. Now I understand that 47th St Photo is still around, but as a shell of it’s former self (the East Meadow branch closed over a decade ago, probably longer) and B&H is top dog. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/59 "2010-09-17T21:48:31Z")
Even earlier than that, my father shopped at Willoughby’s back in the 1970s. I think J&R Music World observes the Sabbath. Even the upstate New York (well, around Kingston) electronics store from which I bought a short-wave radio back in the mid-90s observed the Sabbath. My point is that I don’t know why this is such a surprise to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013/60 "2010-09-17T23:55:14Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > > [@alphaboi867](#): > > > > It sounds like the OP went a department store in the Soviet Union. One line to select merchandise, another to pay for it, and a 3rd to actually receive it. Counter service all the way. :dubious: Which makes sense; if your goal is to employ as many people as possible with busywork. > > Actually, if you would step inside B&H and just watch how many people they serve, and how efficiently the system runs, i think you’d probably rescind your silly comparison. > > One good thing about the system is that it reserves most of the fairly simple, procedural work for staff members with an appropriate level of training, leaving the more expert staff members more time to spend actually helping customers with technical and other product selection issues. The camera people who work there really know their shit, and while i’ve never purchased a computer or a television from them, i’ve heard others say that the computer and electronics people also know what they’re talking about. > > If you want a store where every employee is simply an interchangeable cog in a machine, equally (in)capable of ringing up your sale and telling you about the specs of the latest piece of gadgetry, you can always go to Best Buy. Bingo. This is why B&H is Mecca for photographers. The system is different but I’m willing to bet that they lose very little to shoplifting or employee theft. I shop there often and they have never screwed up and gave me the wrong stuff. It’s also very nice to say go in and pick out the film you want, then browse the lighting equipment and such only to pick out a some gels a half hour later. But get a slip for the gels, go to the very fast and efficient (and frequently female) cashiers and when you pick up your stuff it is all together. Adorama keeps the same hours as B&H but isn’t completely like B&H in inventory control. Some items you pick up and take the register, some you don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-h-megastore-what-the-fuck-kind-of-way-to-run-a-store-is-this/554013.md?page=4)