Earlier in the week, Telus announced it would be shuttering Blacks Photography, the chain it purchased in 2009 for $28 million. The carrier stated, “technological innovations have changed the way Canadians take and share photographs, with fewer of us using retail photo outlets.”
When Telus announced its plans for Blacks, it only mentioned the retail locations. However, Blacks also operates an ecommerce platform on the web, iPhone, Android and Windows Phone. Photo enthusiasts regularly use these services to order prints or create photo books from the pictures captured on their devices.
We reached out to Telus for further clarification on whether those services will stay up. “All 59 retail locations (of which 55 are in Ontario), the website and the app will be shutting down on August 8th,” a Telus rep said in an email.
In total, 59 retail locations will be closed and 485 employees will be offered roles within the various businesses, including roles Telus or Koodo head office, retail outlets, call centres — or they can accept a transition package.
Update: Telus has posted the following details about the Blacks closing on its site. Additional details about the closing of the apps states, “We are planning to stop accepting all web and mobile app orders (with the exception of print orders) on June 30, 2015. After June 30, 2015 we will continue to accept print orders online and via our mobile app until July 25, 2015.”
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