B&H Photo Video

B&H opened in 1973 as a storefront film shop at 17 Warren Street in Tribeca, taking its name from the initials of owners Blimie and Herman Schreiber. Later in the 1970s, B&H moved to 119 West 17th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in the Photo District and began to expand its stock to a wider range of film and photography products. In the 1990s, the company began selling various electronics, including computers, lighting, and audio equipment. In 1997, the store moved to its present location.

The owner of the company, Herman Schreiber, and many of the store's employees are observant Satmar Hasidic Jews. The company’s only brick-and-mortar store is located in Manhattan at 420 Ninth Avenue at the intersection with West 34th Street. The store is closed on Shabbat, most Jewish holidays, and Christmas. Although the B&H website is accessible on Shabbat, checkout and processing of online orders are unavailable during that time (from sundown Friday evening till Saturday evening) along with Jewish holidays according to local (New York) time.

In 2007, B&H opened a second floor above its original sales floor making a total of 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m2) of sales space. That same year, B&H moved its offices to 440 9th Avenue in Manhattan.

As the company has grown, it expanded its office presence to accommodate sales, customer service, buying, marketing, and various back office functions; these functions are housed in 150,000 square feet of office space. The store has an extensive conveyor belt system that runs along the ceiling.

In 2015, B&H added an Apple authorized shop to the computer department with an assortment of Apple products. There is an Apple employee in shop to assist and consult. In 2016, Vaio announced that they signed a contract with B&H photo video to offer their products.

In 2017, B&H moved their warehouses in Brooklyn to their fulfillment center of over 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) located in Florence, New Jersey.

Controversies

In October 2007, it was reported that B&H Photo agreed to a US$4.3 million settlement in response to claims of discrimination against Hispanic workers. In November 2009, B&H Photo faced a lawsuit, initiated by four women, for allegedly violating New York City and New York State human rights laws with their hiring practices. The lawsuit, which aimed for class action status, sought $19 million in compensatory and punitive damages to discourage similar future practices.

In 2011, B&H was involved in a lawsuit concerning claims of discrimination against Hispanic workers. In August 2017, B&H Photo agreed to pay $3.22 million as both monetary relief and back wages to more than 1,300 individuals in a consent decree settlement that did not result from any finding or admission of guilt to resolve a lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs in February 2016 that alleged B&H discriminated against and harassed Hispanic workers.

In September 2021, the New York Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of New York State claiming the company knowingly avoided paying millions in New York sales taxes, finding that B&H had not acted improperly.