Dying businesses?

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I might be one of the last people who do photo albums.  I started doing them in High School and have continued on an annual basis.

I take my favorite digital photos every year and get them printed.  I keep cards and info from our trips or the kids events and put the album together.  Wonderful memories and fun to go back and look at the pictures with the album on your lap and everyone looking on.  Old fashioned, yes, but it is a tradition.  Even the kids give me stuff and say "here, for the photo album".

Today I went to Kates Paperie to get the photo albums.  Usually I buy things online but for some reason I always go to Kates and buy them.

Kates might be a dying business.  Their inventory of photo albums is almost nil.  Are people really buying Filofax's in mass anymore? The store is totally downscaled.  The majority of the business appears to be in the invitation area.   That is an area that is growing leaps and bounds on line.  Not only through sites like evite but sites like Minted.com where you can work directly with the resources.  

Of course, businesses are capable of looking ahead of the curve on how to change with the times but not always.  There are a handful of photo shops left.  Even the large photo shops in Chelsea that the professional photographers use have dwindled down to a few.  Although in California, the local record stores have now become the local pot stores.  Gotta love that. 

As Google turns 10 it is a good time to reflect on what has happened in a short amount of time.  The Internet has changed our lives.  New businesses are reflecting how we live our lives.  Socially and professionally.  But, what becomes of places like a Kate's and other businesses.  A few years back, we played a game with the kids to name the 10 businesses that they thought would die in the next 10 years.  It might be time to play the game again.

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Comments (Archived):

  1. shopkeep

    First of all, why go to Kate’s and overpay? I carry photo albums, but there really isn’t a big demand for them anymore. All those digital pics just sitting on hard drives, what a waste.

  2. Gotham Gal

    what is your website? it isn’t a waste sitting on a hard drive b/c we use that too. we are covered on all bases.