B&H opened in 1973 as a storefront film shop at 17 Warren Street in
Tribeca, and took its name from the initials of owners Blimie Schreiber and her husband, Herman. 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 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 located in
Florence, New Jersey. == Bild Expo ==