Family-owned, third-generation camera shop in Boardman celebrating 75 years
A family-owned camera store that’s been a longtime favorite for fans of film and digital photography is celebrating its 75th anniversary.
Robby Yankush, the vice president of Youngstown Microfilm Camera, represents the third generation of the Yankush family running the business in Boardman.
“It’s an incredible honor and a privilege,” Robby said. “We’re so proud we get to serve the Mahoney Valley community and beyond. We’re a full-service camera store with pre-owned, rentals, photo printing and a large e-commerce business, too. It’s really nice to be open for 75 years. I don’t know how many stores can say that, let alone a camera store.”
It was Robby’s grandfather, Peter Yankush, who founded YM Camera in 1951.
He started by mainly converting medical records from local hospitals to microfilm and recording local high school football games on 16mm film, which they’d later develop at the shop.
“Then we started selling Pentax cameras. We were big into film - all through the 70s, 80s and 90s,” Robby said. “In the early 2000s, a lot of camera stores went out of business because they weren’t ready for the switch to digital. We had four stores at one point, and now we’re down to one main location in Boardman. Being small and having great customer service helped us weather that storm.”
Robby said one of YM Camera’s biggest foot traffic drivers is their full-service film development lab.
“We’re seeing a revival in films, with younger people who drop off film every week and have rediscovered the love for 35mm film,” Robby said. “It’s truly the vinyl records of the [photo] world where they’re yearning for something slowed down, not instant gratification and a look they’re not used to. We’re seeing people come in every week to browse our pre-owned showcases, looking for their first or next film camera.”
The team is also passionate about providing customers with education, being approachable and staying up-to-date on the developing world of photography and videography, according to Robby.
“In the last five years, we’ve seen a lot of high-end video become really accessible, and now we’re serving people who are making short films, doing interviews, even real estate videography and drones,” Robby said. “The video space has been a growing segment that we felt uncomfortable at first, but we have more videographers on staff. Learning about that world and starting to serve that world has been really rewarding and fun.”
