The Lozeau photographic equipment store is closing its doors after 95 years of service. This pillar of rue Saint-Hubert had been bought in 2019 by the Canadian chain Henry’s, which had itself, in 2020, had to take shelter from its creditors. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce that our Lozeau store will permanently close its doors on June 28, 2022”, can we read on the company’s website.
According to Lise Lozeau, the former owner of the business, who remains the owner of the building, the company emptied the store overnight from Monday to Tuesday without notifying either the owner or his employees, who came up against closed doors. Tuesday morning. “We learned it at the same time as everyone else,” says Ms. Lozeau. Eager to terminate the lease, Henry’s representatives appointed a lawyer to do so,
In 2019, Henry’s had however indicated its desire to open a branch in Quebec and to continue the sale of photographic equipment there, “It was a family store like ours”, says Lise Lozeau. On the company’s website, the company claims to have been affected both by the pandemic, by the long works on rue Saint-Hubert, and by global supply problems.
In addition, several Internet users have testified on social networks to the decline in the quality of Lozeau service after the sale to Henry’s. We denounce the absence of services in French on the website, and the dismissal of former employees at the time of the transfer.
“There were three or four left,” notes Lise Lozeau, adding that the other former employees had relocated to competing companies.
According to her, despite technological changes, “there will always be photographers and enthusiasts who continue to buy real cameras”, rather than taking pictures with their phones.
The Lozeau store was founded in 1927 by Léo Lozeau, Lise’s father, who notably did wedding photography. The business remained in the family until 2019.
“It’s hard to explain the feeling I have… They’re closing after 95 years. Unbelievable,” wrote Lise Lozeau’s daughter, Manon Lozeau-Simard, on her Facebook page.