Mike Crivello’s has been a mainstay in the Milwaukee community for many, many years. When I graduated from Cardinal Stritch University, Mike Crivello’s provided my first full-time job in the photo-industry. The locally-owned chain of stores used to have more branches, but time and the economy have made that number diminish. Despite these hardships, Crivello’s is still the only “professional-level” store in the greater Milwaukee area. Like most stores in the area, Crivello’s keeps a healthy stock on Nikon and Canon cameras and lenses on their shelves, along with a multitude of camera bags, albums and other accessories. UNLIKE most area stores though, Mike Crivello’s (Brookfield location) ALSO keeps Leica, Mamiya, ProFoto and Quantum products in stock.
Probably the most important thing Mike Crivello’s has though, is their staff. Any store can put product on the shelves, but not every store can have the decades of experience that Crivello’s staff members have. Though I confess to not knowing everyone’s name, I know that I have never had a poor experience at Crivello’s and I often come away having learned something new about cameras.
Today I want to point to two particular members of the sales staff at Crivello’s because these two gentlemen have an encyclopedia set’s worth of photo-knowledge between them. Jerry Napel and I used to work together at Helix Photoart back in the late 90s. He has been in the photo-industry for over 30 years and besides all his photo-knowledge also knows a wealth about other tech-categories. In addition to his knowledge, Jerry’s also a real swell, friendly guy.
John Mills has also been at Crivello’s for around 15 years and knows as much about photo-history as he does about the current cameras on sale. John isn’t pushy, wants you to understand your photo-options, and like Jerry, is a real friendly, gregarious fellow.
I’m on my soapbox today because the Internet has changed the way we shop and that has generally been to the detriment of stores like Crivello’s. A local store can’t give you the same price as a NYC photo-store, but what a local store CAN do is give you a relationship, give you a face to relate to and can really take care of you because the salespeople know their customers. Local stores help our local economy–Big Box Stores and NYC photo-stores do not. So please, when you start shopping for the holidays, PLEASE consider buying local as much as you can!
Photo-tip: Jerry says the new, hot camera is the Canon Powershot S90. He showed it to me and it does seem to have some pretty nifty features.
To learn more about buying local, visit OurMilwaukee!
