A landmark Central Plaza photo store will be closing its doors next month.
Reid’s Foto Source – which, in one incarnation or another, has been a feature of the local scene for almost 50 years – will be winding down with a sale of inventory, according to an announcement by owner Edward G. Reid.
Reid said staff will continue to serve the store’s many loyal customers right up to the 5:30 p.m. closing on the last day of business, Sept. 13.
Up to then, inventory will be cleared at “substantial discounts,” while supplies last, he said. Store fixtures are also available for sale.
Reid thanked customers for their patronage, a “wonderful staff” for their caring service – and also noted contributions made by the store to the community, particularly under the guidance of former manager Terry Ross, who retired earlier this year, and his wife, Caroll, also a long-time employee.
The store, which over the years sold photo equipment, did photo finishing, took passport pictures, provided photographic advice and conducted workshops and training sessions, began in the photo business quite humbly.
Ross recalled at the time of his retirement that when he first joined the company in 1967 it was a small camera counter – called the Camera Corral – in the original Reid’s Western Drugs store.
Over the years, photographic sales and service became a key component in the drug store operation – and ultimately a separate business in 1982. The store came under the banner of Foto Source – a marketing group with some 200 affiliate stores across Canada – more than a decade ago.