Wolf Camera closes - the end of an era?
We were sad to hear about the closing of our local Wolf Camera store. Wolf Camera was the only place in town to get your photos printed that offered some level of personal service. Of course Wal-mart and most of the drug stores have photo printing kiosks; but you're pretty much on your own for navigating the process.[caption id="attachment_37" align="alignleft" width="250"]
Wolf Camera on Baxter Street closes - Oct.2012[/caption]I remember in the early 1980's, when I working full-time in the photo finishing industry and Chuck Wolf started the Wolf Camera chain in Atlanta, Georgia. They were nice stores that sold cameras, accessories, and did photo processing.In 2001 Wolf struggled to compete with the big internet companies and ran into financial problems and that's when Ritz Camera, a bigger photo company out of New York, purchased Wolf Camera.But as more and more camera sales moved online, troubles for Wolf and Ritz Camera continued and at the beginning of 2012 Ritz filed for bankruptcy. By October of that same year Ritz had closed most of it's stores - including the Wolf Camera in Athens.I have an affection for photo labs partly because my first job in Athens was working at a one; Kolor Quik (where I met my wife, Pam) and partly because of the individual professional help you can get at one. Photo processing is not an exact science - color balance, exposure and contrast are all variables that can shift from one processor to another. With ordering photos online or at self-serve photo kiosks you lose that individual help that could improve your photos. If your sunset or sunrise photos aren't exactly how you remembered, it may be not be your fault. A little professional help could get you the results you were looking for.Kolor Quik, The Camera Shop, Photo Express and Wolf Camera were all great local establishments that offered great photo products, services and technical advice to the amateur and professional photographers. With our technical knowledge and top-of-the- line equipment the we hope our new Photo Center can continue this tradition.
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