Another milestone for McBains!
McBain Camera celebrates 69 years in the photo business
The war was finally over, and Edmonton was growing by leaps and bounds as ex-servicemen and women returned home, bought houses and started families. It was during those euphoric post-war years that a new camera business set up shop in modest digs in the Bellamy Block in downtown Edmonton. Back in 1945, Ross McBain was flying fighter planes from the flight deck of HMS Victorious in the South Pacific. He stayed on in the interim forces (British Royal Navy) until 1947, then decided to return to his hometown and make a go of photography. In 1949, he opened his own shop in Edmonton on Aug. 10 with $10,000, one half-day employee and the assistance of his wife Dorothy as bookkeeper. McBain Camera hung on and began to grow, taking in $36,000 in sales the first year. After just two-and-a-half years, McBain Camera left its side street location and moved to a larger— and higher-profile—spot not far away at 10203 Jasper Ave. It was a risk—the rent jumped eightfold from $50 to $400 a month—but a calculated one, and it paid off well. Sales jumped at the new location, and soon there were five full-time employees. Another change was in order by 1959, and the shop moved just a few doors west to 10247 Jasper Ave. It was significant because it was owned by the company, rather than rented. Ross described it as “18 golden feet of Jasper Avenue at $900 per foot, 120 feet deep, and covered in mortgages.” The new premises became the flagship location as the company flourished over the following decades, staying there for 30 years. Sales of almost half a million dollars in 1959 were aided by the opening of McBain’s first branch store in Westmount Shopping Centre in 1955. The 1960s and 1970s saw the additions of four more branch locations and the relocation of McBain’s main store to 10805 107 Ave. The 1980s ushered in a fully stocked video department, as well as a video transfer lab. More changes followed in the 1990s. In 1997 McBain’s left its longtime Jasper Avenue location for a modern new store at 10159 101 St., just half a block south of Edmonton Centre, and moved into City Centre in 2011. In March 1998 McBain’s acquired Hazel’s Camera Exchange in Red Deer, a business noted as that city’s number one supplier of new and used photographic equipment. In the new millennium, McBain’s opened its first location in West Edmonton Mall, followed by an expansion out to Sherwood Park in March 2007. The Lethbridge store was added in November 2007. In June 2011 McBain’s ventured into St. Albert. All McBain locations are now equipped with photo kiosks to allow customers to bring in their phones or digital media and have their images printed on paper, metal, mugs, calendars or Christmas ornaments. McBain Camera remains a leader in customer service with knowledgeable, friendly staff ready to help. The company employs more than 80 employees with an average of eight years of experience in the photographic industry. Now semi-retired, Ross has turned the operation of McBain Camera over to his son Neil, who began working in the business part-time in 1972 while still in high school. Neil managed the downtown store from 1980 until 1988, when he became general manager of McBain Camera. Under Neil’s leadership, and with the continued input of Ross himself, McBain customers are secure in the knowledge that industry-leading service will continue for decades to come.