Posted on 04/05/2013 8:51:33 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
The digital age might have another victim: Sears has shut down its portrait studio, at least for now, after the photography company that has been snapping family portraits for the chain since 1959 abruptly closed up shop, reports the Wall Street Journal. CPI Corp. also ran studios at Walmart and Babies "R" Us, and all three retailers are scrambling to figure out next steps. Sears is "exploring all options" to resume portrait services, says the company.
It was just a matter of time, writes Chris Gampat at the Phoblographer blog. People are taking their own photos with their own digital cameras, and they care less about prints. "This trend started in the wedding industry and it was only a matter of time until it hit retailers." Adds Stan Horaczek at PopPhoto: "The world doesn't necessarily need any more photos of awkward families plunked in front of fireplaces. But, it does say something about how willing people are to pay for photography in general."
/johnny
Perhaps they need to examine other sources of loss that are taking up space. It’s probably one of the more pro-active steps they’ve taken in awhile.
Whether we like it or not stuff changes. If it ain’t helping your business, change it so it does, or drop it.
It wouldn’t hurt them to remodel their stores, which most strike you as Brady Bunch era 1970s exteriors and interiors.
Actually, I've got a real hippy going gray ponytail. I blend in with the birkenstock crowd well, until I open my mouth. Considering Barry Goldwater a liberal doesn't make the real hippies happy. ;)
/johnny
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away.
And don't forget the family pictures.
SEARS photos were very good. The color lasts and lasts. Some we had taken about 38 years ago are still as beautiful as the day they were developed.
Walmart photos are crap. Photos we had made there began to fade and within five years turned to a reddish color. The blues and yellows disappeared.
Yes.
Please.
It’s a part of my bucket list....before I exit this mortal coil...I NEED to learn if mullet child is a male or female. And is this family well or have they succumbed to an AquaNet inversion in their abode?
LOL! That little girl is so cute!
Yeah I got some very expensive 35MM lenses but luckily you can still use them with some of these new digital Cameras especially when filming movies. Of course they won’t work with the auto-lense functions the newer lenses have but at least they aren’t worthless.
What matters is exactly what the color was at each point in the photo. That's just a heap of numbers. Just data. If you can save the numbers, you don't have to worry about whether the color lasts. Because you can reproduce it on demand. Now or ten thousand years from now.
So, if you've got some old Sears photos you want to keep, your best bet is to scan them in at high resolution and preserve the digital images. And remember to spread around copies, because digital images are not indestructible (but terabyte drives are cheap).
Does this mean I have to get rid of my powder blue polyester suit with the wide lapels and my white platform shoes?
I had one of those around 1977. Johnny Carson brand, I think. LOL
These photo studios provided a low cost service to families with small children to get their first professional photograph. Nothing wrong with the concept, except the operators couldn’t raise prices sufficient to maintain the business over the years.
A sad passing of another wonderful part of American life.
I miss mulletsgalore.com; that site was hilarious.
Back to this article, I hear the stock of awkwardfamilyphotos.com dropped 30% on the news here. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a gem.
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/
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