Walgreens Getting Out of Processing

fresnel10 · Mar 11, 2015

Yesterday I was being admittedly cheap and impatient and so I went to drop off a couple rolls of C41 to be processed at Walgreens. The one I usually use no longer has its machine and the manager at the one where I DID get the developing done told me their machine will be gone soon. I've heard this is a corporate step...it's happening here in Northwest Indiana, anyone else notice anything by them? It would be interesting to see how fast they're doing this.

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480sparky · Mar 11, 2015

I was told that as of March 8th, they would be farming film processing out.

Theo Sulphate · Mar 11, 2015

At my Walgreens, when I look at the bins where they put finished prints for people to pick up, there are only about two or three envelopes there for the whole week. They very rarely use the Fuji Frontier they have and rarely change the chemicals. The one time I used their service, the negatives looked reticulated and the prints were horrible. Most people I see there are just making prints from their SD cards. I don't expect them to keep their machine for another year.

heespharm · Mar 11, 2015

Cvs is doing the same thing... I used to get c41 medium format done at my cvs I work at but no longer...

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Sirius Glass · Mar 11, 2015

Bad news for those that depend on these film processors.

Richard Man · Mar 12, 2015

So... another data point for the thread about "Who sends their stuff out for processing?"

heespharm · Mar 12, 2015

didjiman said:
So... another data point for the thread about "Who sends their stuff out for processing?"

Haha since corporations are people now ...

Tamara · Mar 12, 2015

With Walgreens and CVSs packed in cheek-by-jowl and film photography having gone from something everybody did to an esoteric hobby in the last ten years, there just aren't enough film shooters in the 1 or 2 mile radius around each drugstore to keep it viable. I get that.

But I don't have to like it.

Ironically, the closest place to my house to get film is the local indie record shop which, in addition to a big selection of vinyl, also carries "lomography" products. Maybe I can talk them into buying an old Noritsu?

removed account4 · Mar 12, 2015

our "corner of happy and healthy" got rid of their chemical mini lab 6 months ago
i just got prints back from the last minilab in region ..
she is fantastic, and i know i am blessed to have her around.

ParkerSmithPhoto · Mar 12, 2015

The reality is that no only have people stopped shooting film, they aren't printing much either. The competition in the photo lab space is brutal. One of my neighbors owned a lab, went national for a few years with some big NY investors, a website, huge marketing campaign, etc. They went bankrupt, as did thousands of other mom and pop photo labs around the country when $1500 digital cameras arrived on the scene. I did a big writeup on my blog, "An Analog Swan Song" if you're interested.

If you need a great film lab that produces quality work, I can highly recommend Miller's Lab for film processing, scanning and printing. I've been a client for years.

amellice · Mar 12, 2015

they should give their machines for free I'd love to be their and pick 2 for myself

Nick Merritt · Mar 12, 2015

My neighborhood Walgreens has been closed for several months while it gets completely rebuilt -- we shall see whether the film processing returns when the store opens. Last I checked, Walgreens was still doing processing, though not every store did it in-house.

Tamara · Mar 12, 2015

Truzi said:
I'll have to check and see what our Walgreen's is doing; it's been a few months.

It has been about 15 years since I even tried film at our CVS - everything came out green. ...

When I moved here from Tennessee seven years ago, the CVS around the corner had a minilab. It got a thorough remodel a couple years back, and the corner where the minilab was now contains the coolers for the new Healthy Food section done as a response to all the "food desert" guff in the media some years ago. Now, in addition to frozen burritos and pizzas and Crown Royal, you can get some suspicious-looking salads in a box and hard boiled eggs of questionable provenance. I'd rather they had dodgy film processing instead; at least there'd be an outside chance of me using that.

dosilverhalide · Mar 12, 2015

About ten years ago I was offered a film processing machine for 500 dollars. I thought about it, but it used only proprietary chemicals which I doubted I could buy from the source. So I passed on it. A week later the machine was in the alley by the dumpster.

Tamara · Mar 12, 2015

The processors were nowhere near as maintenance-intensive as the printers... *has flashback to clearing paper jams* ...but I can't imagine where you'd find spare parts for one. Although, in this day and age of rapid prototyping, you could probably just get a lot of the wear parts made. All the gears in the transport mechanisms were nylon; you could probably have replacements 3D printed.

fresnel10 · Mar 12, 2015

Kind of interesting to hear the differences by region so far. It sounds like all the ones around here are switching to sending out. Kind of a weird thing for me because I have never known a Walgreens to NOT process film in-store. Sigh...progress I guess. Of course, as a final hurrah I got my first-ever really bad developing job from there. Bah.

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Tamara · Mar 12, 2015

ParkerSmithPhoto said:
The reality is that no only have people stopped shooting film, they aren't printing much either. The competition in the photo lab space is brutal. One of my neighbors owned a lab, went national for a few years with some big NY investors, a website, huge marketing campaign, etc. They went bankrupt, as did thousands of other mom and pop photo labs around the country when $1500 digital cameras arrived on the scene. I did a big writeup on my blog, "An Analog Swan Song" if you're interested.

Hey, great blog post! I worked as a photog's assistant in the ATL in the early '90s, too. Do you remember The Automated Darkroom, down on Roswell Road just north of Buckhead?

Tamara · Mar 12, 2015

DREW WILEY said:
But I've always been amazed just how horrible drugstore photo processing has always been, regardless.

Ours wasn't. But that's because I gave a crap and so did my boss. As a matter of fact, I got my PA gig because my future employer got his negs and proofs done at our Eckerd's.

fotch · Mar 12, 2015

APUGuser19 said:
Seriously. But since film developing was always basically a loss leader for a drugstore, it was dropped. Not a single penny can now be deflected from the supreme goal. And so dies the American drugstore. No soda fountain, no film developing, no smoking. No customers either. Been to a CVS? Nobody there but employees. And CVS stock is being set up for a bears' feast. The Radio Shack of drugstores.

It was profitable in two ways: From the processing & especially printing of film, and from having the additional customer traffic coming to the store. In a neighborhood camera store (remember those?), it was the most profitable product they offered. This was my experience in the 1980's.

removed account4 · Mar 12, 2015

how could runnng a drug store mini lab that runs film be profitable on a local level
when 1% of the public continues to use film ?

i'm not happy so many labs have closed near me, but at least it is giving my printer a fighting chance !

Paul Howell · Mar 12, 2015

In the Phoenix area there are a couple of stores that process C41 the others send C 41 to them. I am sure this will change and Walgreens will follow the lead of Wal-Mart and start sending C 41 out for processing.

GRHazelton · Mar 12, 2015

I dropped off a cart of C 41 at a local Rite-Aid almost a week ago. The pleasant guy told me that they sent film to Fuji, as does Wal-Mart in this area, near Atlanta, GA. Turn around is a week. When I asked if negatives were returned, in addition to the CD, the guy said, "Of course!" and he seemed surprised that Wal-Mart didn't. I told him that I suspected that it saved the cost/effort of getting the physical objects to the customer, since image files could be sent electronically to the store, where prints from files can be made. And Wal-Mart is well known for cutting costs wherever possible.

I'll be curious to see the results. What I left was nothing of consequence, but still....

Patrick Robert James · Mar 12, 2015

I don't shoot much c-41 anymore but I still use it for family pictures. I would get it developed at a Costco but I no longer live near one. I used Walgreens for a while but the price for develop only for one roll went up to $6.50 a couple of years ago which I found kind of ridiculous since the film came back in sad shape much of the time.

I am resigned to just doing it myself now. I know it will be done right at least.

GRHazelton · Mar 12, 2015

Patrick Robert James said:
I don't shoot much c-41 anymore but I still use it for family pictures. I would get it developed at a Costco but I no longer live near one. I used Walgreens for a while but the price for develop only for one roll went up to $6.50 a couple of years ago which I found kind of ridiculous since the film came back in sad shape much of the time.

I am resigned to just doing it myself now. I know it will be done right at least.

AFIK no Costco in the metro Atlanta area processes film anymore. I've used our local Costco for prints from files, color and BW which I'd scanned in from film. They did an excellent job and very reasonably. I used to do E 6 back in the dark ages, so I know I could do C 41, but the short life of mixed solutions discourages me.

wblynch · Mar 13, 2015

Make sure whatever send out service you use returns your negatives. Walgreen's near me does not. Nor does CVS. My Costco still develops 35mm C-41.

For drugstore items, I go to Bed Bath and Beyond. Their linens have given way to cosmetics and sundries.

Walgreens Getting Out of Processing

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