Four services will no longer be available to buyers when the centers close on February 14, including filling in, the ability to take passport photos, recover photos and a service that transferred home videos from VHS tapes to DVD or USB devices .
However, Costco is not closing its online photo center. Customers can still print photos and access other benefits on Costco’s website, the company said.
Costco (COST) CNN Business did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to a letter sent by Costco to its customers, the statement explains that the “need to print photos has decreased sharply” since the launch of high-quality cameras on smartphones and social media.
Once a staple at grocery stores and pharmacies, photo centers have become increasingly extinct as more people prefer to share their photos online rather than print them out.
It is also part of broader changes implemented at Costco in the past year, including limiting the number of people served at other departments, such as in optical or hearing aids due to local laws due to the pandemic. It is particularly striking that last year he also no longer sold his iconic half-skin cakes.