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Myriam Breedlove, owner of Charlotte Camera, has felt the effects of the changing photo industry. The store, based in Charlotte, N.C., has been in business for 20 years, but recently Breedlove made the decision to shut the doors.

  Breedlove said the store had struggled with a variety of factors, the worst being the industry’s switch from film to digital. Professional photographers weren’t coming in often because they no longer needed to buy rolls of film and darkroom equipment, which accounted for almost 25 percent of the company’s inventory, says an article from The Charlotte Observer.

  This challenge is one faced by other independent camera stores — and independent retailers in general. Breedlove moved the store in 2004 in hopes of broadening its customer base to amateurs. But the store encountered pricier rent and consumers who preferred to shop online or at big box stores, she said.

  “A large number of consumers are using the local store as a showroom for that product and an information desk, then turning around and buying it online,” Breedlove told The Charlotte Observer.

  Also, as the price on electronics has dropped, some manufacturers are accounting for low margins by focusing on volume generated by the more than 32,000 chain stores nationwide.

  “There were times when I’d have a waiting list of 10 people with deposits, but we couldn’t get the cameras,” said Breedlove, who owned the store since 2001. “Meanwhile, they’re at Best Buy on the shelf.”

  Breedlove will move on and take up her father’s business of ventilating crawl spaces, says the article.