South Burlington, Vt. (PRWEB) May 09, 2014 -- Green Mountain Camera has announced plans to expand operations in Chittenden County with new administrative offices, warehousing and distribution in Winooski, Vermont. The new warehousing and administrative center will enable Green Mountain Camera to expand its online business, which has grown substantially in recent years. The company’s offices are currently co-located with its Waterbury Center retail store, which the company plans to close. The company’s South Burlington store will continue to provide retail sales to local customers as well as to regional customers scattered throughout Vermont and New England. Green Mountain Camera worked with Catamount East Development Company, based out of Winooski, Vt., to find the new location at 450 Weaver Street in Winooski.
Green Mountain Camera was founded by Robert Ste. Marie in 2005 in a small space in Waterbury Center. He was later joined by his son, John Ste. Marie as Co-Owner. While Robert focused on retail sales, John quickly expanded the online sales with his strong knowledge of computer systems, software and networking. As the company’s sales grew, Green Mountain Camera had to move a number of times to accommodate new employees and additional retail and storage space. “Once again we’ve outgrown our space and need to relocate - guess that’s not a bad problem to have, but it sure is a lot of work,” says Robert.
In 2012, Green Mountain Camera opened a second retail location in the Staples Plaza, South Burlington, after a struggling Ritz Camera store closed its doors. John notes, “An interesting thing happened when we opened the South Burlington store. We anticipated our Chittenden County and New York customers would no longer need to travel to our Waterbury Center store, but many of our Central Vermont customers began shopping at our South Burlington store too. Those customers were planning to be in Burlington anyway, so it was more convenient to do all of their shopping in one area. This caused our Waterbury in-store sales to slide, but it also enabled us to have our Waterbury staff focus efforts on our online sales to the point where we now need to expand again.”
Tessa K. Ferrario, Green Mountain Camera’s Operations Manager, says, “We’ve been making things work for now, but it has been really difficult because the space is not suitable for these types of operations, especially at our current level and definitely not at our expected continued growth. Tractor trailer drivers with LTL deliveries are not happy when they learn we don’t have a loading dock, or a place to turn a big rig around.”
High quality photofinishing is one of Green Mountain Camera’s trademarks in South Burlington. Terri Balko, South Burlington’s Store Manager, indicated that “with online ordering and shipping, customers from Central Vermont and beyond will still be able obtain the same quality prints they have come to expect from ordering at the Waterbury Center store.”
Green Mountain Camera will be closing the Waterbury Center retail store on June 1, 2014. Quality Manager of E-Commerce, Jacob Austin, and other Waterbury Center employees will move to the new headquarters. “We have many loyal customers and friends in Waterbury, and in so many ways we are sorry to be leaving that area,” said Jacob. Roberts adds, “Waterbury has been a home for us these past 8 plus years, but we are excited to continue to grow and are planning on offering more products and services from our South Burlington store and our new company headquarters and warehouse. We have some very exciting things planned for the future.”
John Ste. Marie, Green Mountain Camera, http://www.gmcamera.com, +1 (802) 244-0883 Ext: 202, [email protected]
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