'I want people to shop local': Why this Peoria institution waited for its grand reopening

Peoria Camera Shop, a longtime institution in the city, celebrated a change in ownership during a grand reopening party this month.

Ava Kamm, the store's new owner, purchased the business earlier this year from the widow of previous owner Bill Dobbins, who died this year. Kamm has been running the store since then, but waited until October, when she was able to get the store fully stocked with inventory, to celebrate the reopening.

The store first opened in 1937 and is now located in the Metro Centre on North University Avenue.

Kamm has a master's degree in zoology and worked as a dog trainer before starting her dog photography business, Dog Anthology. She was a longtime customer at Peoria Camera before taking over the store. She said she purchased the business in order to keep it open for customers who had come to rely on it.

"I want people to shop local," she said. "That's my goal."

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Kamm's love of dogs is evident in Peoria Camera's new decor — photos of her own dog, a great Pyrenees mix named Sunny, adorn the walls, and the dog himself can usually be found lounging among the printers.

Kamm aims to make her store into a collaborative art-making space, through workshops, classes and community events. She has been catering to a growing number of young people who are forgoing digital cameras in favor of the more technically demanding film photography process, a trend that she suspects might be rooted in a desire to slow down.

"Everything's so instant these days with our iPhones," she said. "Maybe people are getting sick of the instant gratification."