Dodd Camera in Fairlawn Guides Customers in Choosing Equipment

Need help choosing and learning to use a digital camera? Fairlawn’s Dodd Camera is happy to come to your rescue.

“It’s a great neighborhood store with educated people who want to help you. There are no dumb questions,” said Holly Szemplak, the store manager.

The Fairlawn Plaza Shopping Center Dodd Camera is one of more than 15 stores in a chain that was started in Cleveland more than 100 years ago. Eleven of the stores are in the Akron-Cleveland area. If a customer wants something that isn’t in his local store, Szemplak said it can be shipped in from one of the other nearby locations within a day or two.

The biggest misconception about the store probably is with pricing, Szemplak said. “We’re competitively priced. People think we’re more expensive because we’re a specialty store, but we’re just not,” she said. Sometimes Dodd can give consumers better prices than mass merchandisers because they are so close to the manufacturer, Szemplak added. “No one offers the quality product we do,” she said. “Somewhere else, you might buy the camera and then have to pay additional for the battery. We don’t do that.” 

In addition to a large selection and competitive pricing, Dodd employees have expertise you might not find elsewhere. “We know a little bit more about cameras and we love to help you out,” Szemplak said.

Dodd carries most camera manufacturers and the trained staff is happy to help you select the equipment that will best suit your needs, Szemplak said. “We spend one-on-one time with you,” she said. Customers can touch the cameras and have the cameras’ features explained.

Although the store carries point-and-shoot cameras, Szemplak said much of its business is with the “Pro-sumer,” semi-professional or hobbyist photographers, shutterbugs who are ready to step up to a single lens reflex camera with a faster shutter and better lens. The store also serves professional photographers, she said.

In addition to cameras, Dodd Camera processes digital prints. Customers can bring in their camera's memory cards or upload their digital images to the Dodd Camera website. Dodd also offers enlargements and novelties such as mouse pads that are printed with the customer's images. Dodd also still processes and prints film and slides, Szemplak said.

Dodd Camera is located at 2855 West Market St., in the Fairlawn Plaza Shopping Center; (330) 873-1700. Store hours are 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. The store is closed on Sunday.