CPI terminates US portrait business

In its last financial report for the fiscal year that ended February 2012, CPI reported a net loss of US$57 million on sales of US$362 million. Since then, losses increased while sales continued to decline. As a result, another legacy in photography is gone, at least in the US.

“Over the course of the past year, we have discussed in a variety of communications that we have been battling through the decline of our business”, Abel stated in the letter. “During that time we negotiated deals with our hosts, secured additional funding from our banks, and marketed our company to potential purchasers. Unfortunately, all of those efforts have fallen short – the decline of our business proved too great an obstacle to overcome and we will be forced to discontinue our U.S. operations…. The Canadian business, which has not suffered from the same difficulty as the U.S., has continued to deliver strong financial performance. The Canadian operations will continue as a standalone company until it is sold to another party.”

At its corporate website, CPI published a short statement: ”After many years of providing family portrait photography, we are sad to announce that all of our U.S. portrait studios are now closed. We appreciate your patronage and allowing us to capture your precious memories.

We are attempting to fulfill as many customer orders as possible. If you’ve had a recent session, your portraits may be available at your Sears, PictureMe or Kiddie Kandids portrait studio. For assistance, please contact the customer service department at your local store.”

While CPI’s studio website www.pictureme.com is no longer active, customers who have an album or had a portrait session recently may order products through www.myonlineportraits.com (Walmart customers) and www.searsphotos.com (Sears customers).