Lawrence Photo & Video owners are retiring and closing the business that traces its roots back to the 19th century.
President Fred Terry, who with his wife Kathy Delicato purchased the store in 2008 from Charlie and Mary Lou Hoag, said health issues accelerated his retirement plans.
“I’m 70 years old, I have emphysema, I’m on oxygen and it’s time to retire,” he said, noting his wife is 68. “My health says that I’m probably in the last two minutes of the ballgame. I’ve worked since I was 16 years old. I want to sit back and if i don’t want to get up in the morning until 10 o’clock, I’ll stay in bed until 10.”
Terry is pushing to close by the end of May, and is liquidating store inventory and fixtures, including cameras, lenses and flashes, as well as showcases, gondolas and lab equipment. A
closing notice posted by the store notes inventory is discounted 10 to 50 percent.
After considering other options, Terry said liquidating the store’s assets was determined to be the best way to maximize profits. Selling the store, he said, likely would result in another company wanting to pay less than the full value of the inventory and also result in a name change.
“Obviously, it doesn’t make us happy that Lawrence Photo’s going away,” he said. “The dynamic of the photo industry has changed.”
Declining to disclose 2014 revenue, Terry said business grew by 1.5 percent last year, noting the onset of smartphone cameras has cut into business. However, he said high-quality photo equipment is still in demand.
“Young people today … the photos that they take, they’re doing it more for sharing rather than printing and archiving. It affects the business,” he said. “I’m certain, as big as Springfield is, it won’t be too long - there will be another camera store in town, whether it’s here or someplace else. There’s enough business here to support a camera store and people are still going to want individual service. Not everybody wants to go to Amazon or eBay.”
The couple lease the 11,000-square-foot space in the Old Town Shopping Center, 2550 S. Campbell Ave, for an undisclosed amount from developer Scott Tillman.
Lawrence Photo started as a corner drugstore in Wichita, Kan., in 1888 under original owner Charles Lawrence. After the turn of the 20th century, he converted the store into what once a camera retail chain. The Springfield retail shop opened in 1973, Terry said. Originally at 2258 S. Campbell Ave., the store moved to its current location in 1979.
“It’s been such a pleasure serving the people of southwest Missouri and the Ozarks for all these years. We’ve really been blessed by all the people here,” Terry said.
