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B&H’s Innovative Overhead Conveyor Belt System for Retail, and a Brief Company History

For anyone interested in consumer electronics or particularly photography, no trip to NYC is complete without a visit to B&H. Manhattan’s legendary photo supply store, which now sells everything from drones to TVs to surveillance equipment, demonstrates why brick-and-mortar can still be king in an age of online shopping. The floors of B&H are crawling with friendly, knowledgeable salespeople who know their products cold and will spend as much time as necessary in order to help you out.

Beyond the excellent service, the most amazing part of B&H is undoubtedly their overhead conveyor belt system. When you order something from a salesperson, you don’t actually take the product; instead they beam your order down to the basement, where invisible staff load a basket with your goods. You’re given a ticket and are free to roam around the store, empty-handed, while your goods zip overhead towards the cashier area:

While this is touted as a customer convenience, it was undoubtedly devised to prevent shoplifting. B&H was founded in the high-crime New York of the early ‘70s. By the bye, if you’re interested in B&H’s history, here it is, condensed into a couple of minutes:

https://www.core77.com/posts/81735/BnHs-Innovative-Overhead-Conveyor-Belt-System-for-Retail-and-a-Brief-Company-History