The End of an Era – Family Portraits

Remember when you'd have to get all dressed up with your family and sit in those stupid little chairs and await your family photo where you're all staring at a spot slightly off-camera? Well, it's over Sears and Walmart have officially shut their portrait studios down. Modern technology has killed it. Believe it or not, ALL the Sears Portrait Studios just shut down and Walmart has reported that they are doing the same all across the USA.  And that is truly the end of an era.

The Sears Portrait Studio opened in 1959.  But in the past decade, people have been buying fewer sessions and fewer photos . . . because of digital cameras, phone cameras, and cheap online photo printing. The company that runs the Sears Portrait Studio at every Sears location is CPI Corp.  They also run about 20% of the portrait studios at Walmart and Babies "R" Us . . . and they shut down both of those too. Sears says, and I quote, "We are exploring all options" to keep some kind of photo service alive . . . but for now, it's over.