B&H Photo Video
Encyclopedia
B&H Photo Video, founded in 1973 and located at 420 Ninth Avenue
on the corner of West 34th Street
in Manhattan
, New York City
, is the largest non-chain photo
and video
equipment store in the United States
.
The store is patronized by professional photographers and videographer
s, serving 2,000 customers per day, while a considerable amount of the company's business comes from its internet operation. It also runs a warehouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
. On its website, B&H claims to be the "world's leading retailer of imaging products." The store carries a wide range of products as well as professional and specialty equipment.
The business is owned by Herman Schreiber. Schreiber and many of the store's employees are observant Satmar
Hasidic Jews who close the store on Shabbat
and Jewish holiday
s. The website is open but orders are not taken or shipped between Friday evening and Saturday evening and on Jewish holidays.
Surpassed only by the Diamond District
in terms of Orthodox employment, the company is a vital part of the community's financial health, with hundreds of Orthodox Jews on staff. An Orthodox Jewish bus company provides daily service to and from Kiryas Joel
, a Satmar village in Orange County, New York
. On Fridays, vans that carry workers to their homes are parked outside early in the afternoon, so the men can leave work on time to get home by sundown, when the observance of the Sabbath begins. The store does not reopen until Sunday.
In 2007, Google
announced that they added B&H as a merchant accepting Google Checkout
. When discussing their third-quarter financial results on a October 18, 2007 conference call, Sergey Brin
, President and co-founder of Google, said that B&H is his favorite camera store.
at 420 Ninth Avenue (at the intersection with 34th Street
). On Tuesday October 30, 2007, B&H opened a second floor above its original sales floor making a total of 70000 sq ft (6,503.2 m²) of sales space. The first floor encompasses pro lighting, binoculars and scopes, video, audio, darkroom, film, and both home and portable entertainment; the second floor focuses on both analog and digital photography, computers, printers, scanners, and related accessories.
In November 2009, a lawsuit against B&H Photo alleged that the store refused to hire women, in violation of New York City and New York State Human Rights Laws. The lawsuit, brought by four women, seeks class action status on behalf of all women discriminated against by B&H over the course of many years. Given B&H’s prior alleged discriminatory practices, the lawsuit seeks $19 million USD in compensatory and punitive damages in order to deter future discriminatory practices.
Ninth Avenue (Manhattan)
Ninth Avenue / Columbus Avenue is a southbound thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs downtown along its full length...
on the corner of West 34th Street
34th Street (Manhattan)
34th Street is a major cross-town street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, connecting the Lincoln Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Like many of New York City's major crosstown streets, it has its own bus routes and four subway stops serving the trains at Eighth Avenue, the trains at...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, is the largest non-chain photo
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
equipment store in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Overview
Videographer
Strictly speaking, a videographer is a person who works in the field of videography, video production — recording moving images and sound on video tape, disk, other electro-mechanical device. News broadcasting relies heavily on live television where videographers engage in electronic news...
s, serving 2,000 customers per day, while a considerable amount of the company's business comes from its internet operation. It also runs a warehouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Brooklyn Navy Yard
The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...
located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
. On its website, B&H claims to be the "world's leading retailer of imaging products." The store carries a wide range of products as well as professional and specialty equipment.
The business is owned by Herman Schreiber. Schreiber and many of the store's employees are observant Satmar
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)
Satmar is a Hasidic movement comprising mostly Hungarian and Romanian Hasidic Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. It was founded and led by the late Hungarian-born Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum , who was the rabbi of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary...
Hasidic Jews who close the store on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and Jewish holiday
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
s. The website is open but orders are not taken or shipped between Friday evening and Saturday evening and on Jewish holidays.
Surpassed only by the Diamond District
Diamond District, Manhattan
The Diamond District is an area of New York City located on West 47th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan, within walking distance of many New York attractions...
in terms of Orthodox employment, the company is a vital part of the community's financial health, with hundreds of Orthodox Jews on staff. An Orthodox Jewish bus company provides daily service to and from Kiryas Joel
Kiryas Joel, New York
Kiryas Joel is a village within the town of Monroe in Orange County, New York, United States...
, a Satmar village in Orange County, New York
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...
. On Fridays, vans that carry workers to their homes are parked outside early in the afternoon, so the men can leave work on time to get home by sundown, when the observance of the Sabbath begins. The store does not reopen until Sunday.
In 2007, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
announced that they added B&H as a merchant accepting Google Checkout
Google Checkout
Google Checkout is an online payment processing service provided by Google aimed at simplifying the process of paying for online purchases. Users store their credit or debit card and shipping information in their Google Account, so that they can purchase at participating stores by clicking an...
. When discussing their third-quarter financial results on a October 18, 2007 conference call, Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin is a Russian-born American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the largest internet companies. , his personal wealth is estimated to be $16.7 billion....
, President and co-founder of Google, said that B&H is his favorite camera store.
History
B&H opened as a storefront film shop on the Lower East Side run by Herman Schreiber and his wife, Blimie (the store's name comes from their initials). The store quickly outgrew its space. B&H moved to a large loft on West 17th Street in the Photo District in the 1970s. Catering to the needs of neighborhood artists, B&H expanded to selling film equipment as well as photo products. In 1997 the store moved to its present location. It now has a staff of over 1,500 employees. B&H's flagship store is located in West Midtown ManhattanMidtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
at 420 Ninth Avenue (at the intersection with 34th Street
34th Street (Manhattan)
34th Street is a major cross-town street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, connecting the Lincoln Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Like many of New York City's major crosstown streets, it has its own bus routes and four subway stops serving the trains at Eighth Avenue, the trains at...
). On Tuesday October 30, 2007, B&H opened a second floor above its original sales floor making a total of 70000 sq ft (6,503.2 m²) of sales space. The first floor encompasses pro lighting, binoculars and scopes, video, audio, darkroom, film, and both home and portable entertainment; the second floor focuses on both analog and digital photography, computers, printers, scanners, and related accessories.
Lawsuits
In October 2007, it was announced that B&H Photo agreed to pay $4.3 million USD to settle allegations that it discriminated against Hispanic workers.In November 2009, a lawsuit against B&H Photo alleged that the store refused to hire women, in violation of New York City and New York State Human Rights Laws. The lawsuit, brought by four women, seeks class action status on behalf of all women discriminated against by B&H over the course of many years. Given B&H’s prior alleged discriminatory practices, the lawsuit seeks $19 million USD in compensatory and punitive damages in order to deter future discriminatory practices.