Legendary Schenectady Gazette photographers like Sid Brown, Ed Schultz and Jim Cassin were also fixtures.Įoff used to wheel cases of darkroom chemicals to the newspaper, which hosted both its headquarters and printing press nearby at the time.

Thursdays generated so much foot traffic, city police boosted food patrols.Įoff, 69, saw himself primarily in the people business, and he knew everyone from the teams of representatives from Eastman Kodak and equipment suppliers, to the other sales reps who regularly came into his shop. “I remember a steady stream of people coming up the sidewalks on both sides at lunchtime,” Eoff said.īuses were packed, and in the pre-shopping mall era, downtown was crammed with department stores. That was in the Summer of ‘77, when GE still hosted a sizable workforce. Years later, Dad called with a proposition:Ĭome home and work at the shop.

“Not that I hated it,” Eoff said, “but I had no interest at all in the business.”Įoff moved to Rochester to pursue a career as an artist. But he wasn't interested in carrying the torch. John Eoff grew up sweeping floors, emptying trash and performing other menial tasks. in 1949, starting with selling cameras and equipment before moving into stationary and greeting cards. took over, moving the Photo-Lab to its current location at 273 State St. There were others on Jay Street, as well as pop-up satellite stores during the holidays.īeverly Eoff died in 1940, and his wife, Harriet, ran the operation while her son served in the South Pacific during World War II. The Photo-Lab’s first storefront was on Wall Street, the now-lost thoroughfare that once ran to the original Schenectady Train Station. The associate editor for GE Review began to dabble in photography before company brass told the shutterbug to work full-time or take a hike - so he walked.Īt the time, Kodak was gaining momentum and technology was increasingly allowing for sharply-defined imagery. “I was forced into this and originally wanted to do this for a few more years,” Eoff said.Īn Eoff family member has run the operation since 1914, when Eoff’s great-grandfather, Beverly Eoff, launched the first incarnation from his Regent Street home in the city’s GE Realty Plot. The end came when owner John Eoff sparred with his landlord over a leaking roof, the latest in a thicket of issues and litigation swirling around the crumbling complex located at the corner of State Street and Erie Boulevard.

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