Four services will no longer be available to buyers when the centers close on February 14, including ink refills, the ability to take passport photos, restore photos and a service that transfers 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 the Costco website, the company said.
Costco (COST) did not immediately respond to CNN Business about the closings. But a letter obtained by a photo blog allegedly sent from Costco to its customers explained that the “need to print photos has decreased dramatically” since the introduction of high-quality cameras on smartphones and social media.
Once a staple product in supermarkets and pharmacies, photo centers are becoming more and more extinct as more people choose to share their photos online instead of printing them.
It is also part of broader changes implemented at Costco last year, including limiting the number of people served in its other departments, such as hearing aids or optical devices, due to local laws due to the pandemic. Notably, she also stopped selling her iconic half-sheet cakes last year.