A snapshot in time: Radium Photo celebrating 100 years in Muskegon

Dec 6, 2009
Muskegon Chronicle
Dave Alexander

For 100 years, Radium Photo has kept its focus on Muskegon.

Four generations of the Cihak family have managed the downtown photography business through its changes from chemistry and film to pixels and computers.

Radium Photo was founded by Charles Cihak Sr. in 1909 at 10 W. Western in downtown Muskegon. The family-owned and operated business will celebrate its 100th anniversary of being a downtown Muskegon fixture with an open house 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

“This is their family business now,” said Radium Photo owner Charles Cihak III, 61, referring to his son, Charles Cihak IV, and daughter, MacKenzie Richardson, who both work at Radium.

RADIUM PHOTO

Radium Photo through the decades 1909: Founded by Charles Cihak Sr. at 10 W. Western. 1920: Moved to 320 W. Western. 1931: Moved to 367 W. Western. 1946: Charles Cihak Jr. joined the business. 1961: Charles Cihak Jr. purchased the business. 1964: Charles Cihak III joined the business. 1975: Moved to 835 Terrace. 1983: Charles Cihak III purchased the business. 2002: Charles Cihak IV joined the business. 2008: MacKenzie (Cihak) Richardson joined the business.

Cihak is the bridge between his children and his late father, Charles II. He also has seen the business go from a retail business with local customers to an Internet-based business working with 70 professional photographers nationwide.

“He loved people coming in the front door,” Charles III said of his father. “We worked together for 37 years.”

The 29-year-old Charles IV joined the family business in 2002 after graduating from North Muskegon High School and Hope College with a degree in business. His grandfather, Charles II, died that year.

“He expected me to go to work at Radium with my dad,” the younger Cihak said of his grandfather.

Radium Photo, which began as a photo equipment and portrait business 100 years ago, has remained flexible to changes in the photographic industry. By the 1930s, the company began taking school portraits and sports photos, a specialty it continues today.

Always a retail outlet for photo equipment and supplies, Radium Photo has grown in later years into a photo processing operation, serving professional photographers along with the general public. It remains a Cannon authorized equipment dealer.

Prior to digital cameras, the company geared its services toward professional photographers and their large-format film. The growth of digital photography and processing competition from large chains has changed the landscape, the Cihaks said.

At one time, Radium Photo employed 17 technicians and sales staff, which process hundreds of rolls of film a day. Today, the business has five employees handling an even greater volume of business. Professional customers looking for processing of photographic prints use the Internet to send their digital files to Radium; the prints are returned by overnight shipping.

“That form of digital technology probably has had a negative effect on professional photography,” Charles III said. “It has cost jobs in other businesses as digital photography has hurt wedding photographers, and we have had a loss of portrait studios.”

Anyone with an inexpensive digital camera can claim to be a professional photographer, which has driven down professional fees but also has hurt quality, the Cihaks said.

“It is easier for everyone to take pictures now,” Charles IV said. Many of his professional customers are “stay-at-home moms. ... Many photographers have full-time jobs and do this on the side. It has hurt the big boys.”

MacKenzie Richardson, 28, joined the family business in 2008 to work in the printing lab and oversee Radium’s school and sports photography. She also has brought a background in marketing and graphic design to help customers create yearbooks and other specialty publications.

“My hope is to get schools to jump back on board with us and that they keep their purchases local,” Charles IV said. Radium has continued to do school photography along with youth sports, such as hockey and soccer through its Tech-1 Photography division. A new opportunity has emerged in camp photography, such as work at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.

The family business had three downtown locations before settling into 835 Terrace at the corner of Clay Avenue in 1975. The family looks around the downtown and sees itself along with G&L Chili Dogs and Witt Buick as a few of the only survivors from the historic West Western Avenue shopping district.

E-mail Dave Alexander at dalexander@muskegonchronicle.com