Penn Camera to Shutter Its Shops

Penn Camera, a fixture for photography enthusiasts in the Washington metropolitan area for 58 years, has closed five of its eight stores after filing for bankruptcy, the retailer announced on its website on Wednesday.

Stores in Fair Lakes and Springfield in Virginia and in Laurel, Pikesville and on 18th Street in Washington, D.C. were closed immediately.

is one of three remaining stores that will hold clearance sales, the website said.

Once the inventory is cleared, those stores are likely to close, an employee told DCist.

"A dramatic decline in sales performance during the preceding holiday period has precipitated this action," the Beltsville-based company announced.

Customers awaiting repairs, processing or with pending business at the closed locations were directed to the three remaining stores beginning Monday. Inquiries were being received at sales@penncamera.com at 301-210-7366 x 100 or by fax at 301-210-7370.

A note at the Springfield location on Wednesday announced that store was closed, .

Photographers lamented the news on the website Photo.net.

"It is almost certainly just another example of the direction the industry is going, ie, fewer bricks and mortar stores, fewer prints being made, relatively inexperienced kids manning the counters at the chain camera stores. Ugh," Tom Mann wrote in a post on the site.