Long Time No Post & That Photo Shoppe is Closing

Hello to the handful of people that have actually found me and read my stuff - When I get around to posting something.

It's been a busy & crazy spring, I've got plenty of stories started, just haven't have a chance to finish and post them. I'll get back to that soon.

But the big & Sad news of the day is the closing of That Photo Shoppe, our photography store in Anacortes, WA.

Times were pretty slow this past year, which had us moving to this current location last summer to lower our operating costs, which helped, but at the same time, the old saying "location, location, location" - or lack of, has actually made things worse. Even though we're only a 1 1/2 blocks from our old store, so many customers thought we were gone and never found us. While, at the same time we started picking up new customers, especially ones needing photo restoration and printing services, but alas, it's still not been enough to make this 'location challenged" store work as we'd like. There's just not enough foot traffic for new customers to find us and a neighbor has some large dumpsters that hide the view of us from the main street, even though we're only a 1/2 block back.

But even with all that, the momentum has started to return and our workshops have been very successful.

But then came a new challenge. We've been on a month to month lease for 10 months, and the rent's reasonable for the space we're in, but the landlord (who's actually been very good to us) is planning an extended trip to Greece and would like to have us sign a 1-year lease before he leaves. We're  not willing, able or wanting to commit to this space for that amount of time. Sorry.

We're in the middle of looking a several other retail spaces, but as of today, time has run out. So, the hard decision to "temporarily close down" until better options come along was made.

We're still in the process of buying out QuickSilver Photo Lab in Bellingham too, which is not complete nor set in stone either - Adding to the frustration, as one decision about how to deal with the store hinges on the other decisions about the other store! Make sense? Got any ideas?

So, that's the news that's news today.

Stay tuned.  For those of you who (whom?) know us, or would like to contact us, all the web-sites, phone numbers and emails for That Photo Shoppe and Alternative Focus (our workshops company) will remain active during this "time of change".

Also, Email me at tlockemm@gmail.com if you've got any questions or ideas, not only for either one of our stores, our workshops or this blog.

Thanks again,
Tony D. Locke, MM