(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago’s oldest camera store was plundered by looters and destroyed by fire last year, but now Central Camera is back.
Don Flesch's grandfather founded the business in 1899. The store’s home on Wabash near Jackson was ruined in May 2020 as civil-rights protests turned violent.
Flesch kept Central Camera going by opening a temporary shop next door. The loyalty and generosity of customers were a big help, he tells WBBM Newsradio.
A Go Fund Me effort raised $225,000 for the rebuild.
"There's been so many people going 'What can we do, what can we do?’” the owner says. “The people, they're all family.”
Flesch may be in his 70s, but he said retiring was not really an option.
"The decision to stay or go is going to be mine, not somebody who sets it on fire and steals everything. I'm too young. I'm only half way to 144. I've got a long way to go,” he said.
Flesch hopes the store will be ready for its grand reopening by late summer or early fall, continuing a legacy … Made in Chicago.
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