Neptune Photo moves with the times in new location
Neptune Photo survives as a rare entity—an independent photo shop—by offering something that electronics chain stores don’t: personalized service to assist its customers in realizing their aspirations as shutterbugs.
“I like the creativity. I like people learning photography. I like to see people making pictures,” said Neptune Photo owner Robert Jacobs.
Financial pressures almost prompted him to close the business as it faced a steep lease increase on its Seventh Street location. But he and his three-member staff recently made the move to 731 Franklin Ave. in Garden City where they’re still in the process of decorating.
The store’s new location is 1,500-square feet compared to the 2,500-square feet it occupied on Seventh Street.
“We almost didn’t do it. We had pretty much decided not to reopen,” Jacobs said.
If he had decided to close the business, it would have ended one of the oldest businesses in Garden City, a business Jacobs’ father Herbert first opened on Franklin Avenue in 1962.
For the 59-year-old proprietor, photography has long been his favorite hobby. Jacobs was the photographer for the yearbook at John Glen High School in Elwood, and he began helping his father out in the shop during summers while he was still in school.
He joined the business full-time in 1979 after graduating from Clarkson College, and he hasn’t looked back.
It’s still very much a family business, with Jacobs’ sister, Monnie Heffernan, working as one of the store’s managers.
The niche Neptune now occupies is that of a specialty photography store, offering an array of options to produce super-enlarged photos for customers to display in their homes. Jacobs said Neptune can turn photos into murals, customized wallpaper or canvas prints, in addition to retouching and manipulating film photos.
Neptune can edit photos to make people look thinner and produce life-size cutouts for Sweet 16 parties and other occasions.
“We offer a lot of customized services. We do a lot of different things,” Jacobs said. “And we’re one of the few stores on Long Island that still processes film, so a lot of stores bring their film to me.”
Apart from the rising cost of renting store space, Jacobs said the fact that people don’t shoot film for photo prints as much as in years past and the advent of cell phones that take photos has adversely affected Neptune’s business—along with competition from chain stores.
“We still sell cameras, but we have a lot of competition in selling them,” Jacobs said.
Along with maintaining a focus on providing varied lab services for developing prints, Neptune also offers private lessons for $65 an hour to teach people how to use the sophisticated digital cameras commonly used today.
“It’s amazing that most people don’t have a knowledge of how the camera works,” Jacobs said. “If they take a good picture, it’s often by accident.”
The store also carries accessories, such as photo bags and other camera equipment.
In its new location, Neptune is open six days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Additional information about the services Neptune Photo offers is available at www.neptunephoto.com.
