CPI Corp's, picture me studio in walmart Walmart portrait studio, sears portrait studio. CPI Corp.s sudden decision to shutter more than 2,000 such outlets in Sears and Walmart locations nationwide the companys announcement left CPI customers and employees in limbo and Sears seeking an Woodbury, MN. walmart, Minnesota

Hi Stacy, 

I'm really sorry to hear about what happened to you. I was a manager with CPI and there was no notice for us either - all over the country, region to region, we all got a text on the evening of April 4 telling us not to go to work in the morning and to be on a call in the morning; during which we were told that all studios were closed. We were told that CPI's strategy was going to be to place all of the fallout on the host stores in hopes that the host stores would invest in keeping the company running, so it doesn't surprise me that there was no refund offered - the strategy was literally to force Sears and Wal-Mart to deal with it all.  

I know it's been over a year, but did you perhaps try checking with the Host Store Management? Even though we weren't supposed to head into the studios, most of us did to make arrangements with the host stores to offer customers the chance to pick up their portraits through the management office. If you haven't tried that, I suggest giving that a shot.

It was common practice in studios to first offer collections that included CDs with copyright releasees, and generally they were turned down by customers.