Palmer One Hour Photo makes move

Palmer One Hour Photo, located previously on Evergreen Avenue between Subway and Slack's Sugar Shack Bakery, has moved, in part, owners say, to the new Fred Meyer that is being built in Palmer.

"I didn't want to be part of that traffic jam," said co-owner Lisa Upperman, who bought the photo shop with her husband Glen in 1989.

Upperman said that while getting a jump-start on the possible ramifications of the new grocery store made the decision to move an easier one, the shop, now named Palmer One Hour Photo and Portrait Studio, had long outgrown its 250-square-foot space years ago.

The new location, on Cobb Street across from Bishops Attic, has more than 450-square-feet of retail space, which Upperman says will be used to provide Palmer with a photo shop that breaks the need to go to Wasilla or Anchorage for any photo needs.

"We've really expanded our services," Upperman said. "We think it's time that the Valley has a full-service photo shop."

A new drive up window is just one of the new services the store offers. Patrons can get their photos developed in an hour, a day or three days; the latter, says Upperman, is priced to compete with some of the larger photo developers in larger stores.

"It's the price of a big box store at the quality of a photo store," she said.

The store can develop black and white film and 120 film, and can print photos larger than any store in the Valley, Upperman said. The shop also has a portrait studio, and proofs are developed onsite, meaning it might take two hours to see a portrait proof, instead of the two weeks it would take if a photographer has to send the proofs out of state. Upperman said she plans to open the front space of the store for local artists to display and sell their artwork; the gallery should be open by Thanksgiving.

Palmer One Hour Photo first opened in 1985; the Uppermans bought the business after working in commercial printing and photography in Idaho. In celebration of the store's grand re-opening Monday, there will be specials running through the month of November.