When Calumet Photo filed bankruptcy and closed their stores across the nation last month, the largest local camera rental department in the area disappeared with it. Hardly missing a beat, Jerry Smith, the former manager of the Calumet’s rental department in Tyson’s Corner has opened his own business, F8 Rentals, to help fill that void.
Transferring a small portion of a previously existing business to a new endeavor is not new for those in the former Penn Camera and Calumet family. The former head of the Penn Camera Workshops, Marie Joabar, broke out on her own after Penn went bankrupt in early 2012 and founded the Capital Photography Center. Now Smith is trying to follow a similar path. We asked him a few questions about F8 Rentals.