Willoughby's
Willoughby's, which proclaims itself Largest Camera Store, was described in 1997 by The New York Times as "New York City's oldest camera store." It was founded by Charles G. Willoughby in 1898, By 1963 the store operated as Willoughby and Peerless Camera, and simply Willoughby-Peerless by 1992; by 2010 ownership had shifted, and the name once again was simply Willoughby's.
Competition
For a while, the 1967-founded 47th Street Photo, about which tourists with a halting English would mistakenly ask for 47th Street Camera, 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.
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", "Camera", "Emporium" "Department" and "Store" were part of its name, it has been owned by various others. Most recently these have included:- Erich Hirschfeld, who had formerly managed the business, purchased it in 1963
- Berkey, Inc., "which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings" in 1988
- Queen Street Camera Inc., a Canadian firm that, eight years after its own founding acquired Willoughby's
- Jamie Ankari 1991-1997
- Joseph Douek