Chestnut Hill Camera Shop owner Frank Garber behind the counter of the store that will close after 64 years. (Photo by Pete Mazzaccaro)

by MegAnne Liebsch

The Chestnut Hill Camera Shop, a staple of Chestnut Hill’s business community since 1952, will be closing its doors on Aug. 15.

The shop has been at its present location, 8614 Germantown Ave., since 1963. At that time, the store was only the second dealer of Sony cameras on the entire east coast.

Owner Frank Garber said he spent a lot of his childhood in the store, then owned by his aunt and uncle. He remembers putting up Christmas decorations in the front windows and painting the back bathroom lavender and lime – a paint job that Garber said was quickly painted over by his uncle.

In 1976, Garber started working at the Camera Shop at the age of 16. When his aunt passed away eight years ago, Garber took over ownership. Now, for many reasons, Garber has decided to close the shop.

“The store’s not profitable,” Garber said. “Camera shops just aren’t profitable.”

Garber explained that it’s difficult for him to compete with online prices for cameras and camera parts. He can’t match the low prices of the likes of Amazon and eBay. On top of that, the shop has lost a lot of its photo-finishing business because people either print their photographs at home or send them to cheaper professional sources like Shutterfly.

“You can have price or service,” Garber said, adding that many people today are only concerned with the price. People buy their cameras online and then come into the store and ask him how to use it, which is harder to profit from.

“I specialize in helping customers,” Garber explained. “I’m the value of the store if you ask me.”

He said people can buy cameras anywhere, but when they need help, people come to him for his expertise and customer service. Some of his customers are so loyal that he has third generation customers coming into his shop.

“I don’t want to let down the customers,” Garber said. “I appreciate the loyal customers, and I’m going to miss them.”

Over the last five years, Garber tried cutting down expenses as much as possible. He cut inventory, payroll, employees and advertising. He said he spent the last five Christmases (the shop’s busiest season) alone because he couldn’t afford other employees.

“I cut every corner I could and still couldn’t make a profit,” Garber explained.

Garber said that he has loved working in the Chestnut Hill business community.

“Chestnut Hill is like a horizontal department store,” he said. “It’s an alternative to a mall. You get personal service.”

Due to the increasing reliance on Internet for retail, however, Garber said many other Chestnut Hill shops like his may not be able to survive either.

“The fabric of Chestnut Hill is frayed a little bit more,” he added.

Looking toward the future, Garber doesn’t have any solid plans. He may become a full-time photographer or teach photography classes.

“The world’s my oyster,” he said with a laugh. “If I’m going to stay, I have to reinvent my business.”

Garber added that he has looked into opening another photography business focused on preserving memories – taking people’s old negatives, videos and paper documents and digitizing them for a flat fee.

“I’ve been working here since I was 16, so it’s hard to let it go,” said Garber. “I want to thank the customers. I’m going to miss them.”