If you grew up like I did, it was a tradition for families to get photos of their children or entire family group at local department stores. These in-store portrait studios provided ease and savings over going to a traditional photography studio.
When my own family and I finally got a group photo for the first time back in 2007, we went to our local Wal-Mart to capture the memory. So it is unfortunate to hear that many Sears and Wal-Mart portrait studios have closed due to its operating company CPI Corp. going out of business. CPI Corp. was the company behind Sears portrait studios, along with PictureMe portrait studios in Wal-Mart and Kiddie Kandids in malls and Babies ‘R’ Us.
After a decline in business in recent years due to increased public access to digital photography, this end was not unforeseen, but it is unfortunate. These department store portrait studios provided budget-friendly memories in the form of bundled photo packages that gave you plenty of prints to hand out to family and friends.
CPI’s closure affects more than 3,000 portrait studio locations in North America. If you are looking for economical alternatives to get family photos taken, here are a few other options:
- Olan Mills Portrait Studios—Olan Mills runs portrait studios inside department stores, including Kmart, Belk, Macy’s and Mejier.
- Target Portrait Studios– Lifetouch Portrait Studios, Inc. owns and operates portrait studios in Target stores.
- JCPenney Portrait Studios—JCPPortraits is a portrait studio found in JCPenney stores.
- Portrait Innovations—Portrait Innovations has over 200 plaza/mall studios throughout the U.S that offer photos and keepsakes without sitting fees and at really reasonable prices. Photos are available within an hour.
Thankfully, for the time being, there are still some other options out there. Regardless, it is sad to hear about so many portrait studio locations that were used for so many years being a thing of the past.
Did you ever get photos taken at Sears or Wal-Mart portrait studios, whether as a child yourself or for your own family? How do you save money on portraits? Comment below and share your photo memories experience with us.