In addition to Ed's comments above....most independent camera stores just can't compete with the volume dealers in any way...on top of all the esoteric darkroom chemicals available right now, and there are a bunch of great small companies out there at the moment & unique products as well, but on top of all this--film, paper & chemistry all have limited shelf lives and cannot be returned to the original companies if they're not sold. So, think of the camera stores as well...having to stock a whole bunch of different types of chemicals and papers that maybe only a handful of their customers will ever purchase. On top of this, you often have to order a minimum quanitity even on special order...I used to use alot of Kodabrome RC and Kodabromide fiber paper and always had to order a couple of hundred sheet boxes minimum when I only wanted one...and that was maybe 10 yrs. ago. I have to order paper developer by the case...but I plan in advance & keep a minmum stock on hand for myself...when it gets to be about 2-3 mos. out, I place an order through the local store...I could just get a can from Calumet, but I like to give the local guys my business. I learned this from my job where we order materials only a couple of times of year...we have to keep an inventory and estimate usage and all that, AND then the items are ordered through bids & vendors...it takes a couple months of red tape just to get a single item...now, I see in this process a similarity to the consumer....say we run out of rapid fix and I know I can buy it down the street (the closest shop is about a mile away)...but there's no petty cash and if we buy out of pocket we won't ever be reimbursed because the item is on a contract....to bid on the contracts you have to supply a certain volume to begin with, AND be able to compete at a price of close to 70% off list for these products....most small, local shops just can't do this....it's only the big, mail order vendors that can compete....(posted 8277 days ago)The big companies themselves--Kodak, Polaroid, even Ilford--all operate separate divisions that handle different aspects of what is sold in the stores as well.....what type of products a store can carry "officially" based on how much they can sell, etc...some reps will come through and tell them to move the old items off the shelf, because they don't want outdated paper or whatever to be sold...which is great...I'm all for that, but what if the stuff just isn't moving? If outdated is 6 mos. ? If you learn to read the chemical date codes on say Kodak products, you'd be surprised at how much stuff just sits on the shelves of camera stores....so while I want to give business to a local store--I don't want to buy E6 chemistry that's 2 yrs. old....
I'm afraid the only hope for the small camera store, is to be located in a community with a really vibrant, loyal darkroom customer base...and even then, you might not see all that much of a selection...but you can always estimate how much materials you need, work in some fudge room for backorders etc., and start a little stockpile for your setup...plan for the emergencies as well.
Since I'm talking vendors, contracts & biz, these are MY opinions only and not those of the agency for which I work for.