A new camera store is coming to Midtown in the same space recently vacated when Ritz Camera closed its doors.

Colorado-based Mikes Camera has been around since 1967 and is expanding into California with a new corporation. Sacramento is one of five locations the business will open in the state. The other four are all in the Bay Area.

“Sacramento’s a great city,” Vice President of Operations Alex Christianian said Thursday. “Since Ritz was closing their location, and we had been looking at expanding, the timing seemed like a good opportunity for us.”

The store is set to open at 2200 J St. sometime during the week of Nov. 12, and he said he expects that many of the Ritz Camera employees will be hired.

“They had a great crew, and we’ll be retaining as many of them as we can,” Christianian said.

Store selection will be similar to what Ritz Camera carried, but he added that there will be a more extensive selection of high-end products than Ritz offered. The store will also repair cameras.

Another aspect of the business will be the hosting of educational activities such as workshops, shooting events, presentations by professional photographers and more.

Store hours will be 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday.

Midtown Business Association Executive Director Elizabeth Studebaker said she is happy to see the old camera store replaced with a new one.

“A store like Mike’s Camera is a huge asset for the community, and it’s a great destination business,” she said.