Trackside Camera Supply

Trackside Camera Supply A "Flash in the Pan" Photography Shop that is now closed.

Permanently closed.
Its been about two months. This picture was from one of the final days after I removed the vinyl from the windows.In tha...
04/08/2026

Its been about two months. This picture was from one of the final days after I removed the vinyl from the windows.

In that time, I’ve watched more local businesses close and others openly struggle. This isn’t isolated to Lafayette, it’s happening everywhere. And it’s hard to watch, knowing what some of these fellow small business owners may face in the coming weeks and months.

Everyone is doing their best to hold on. Unfortunately small businesses aren't insulated from economic turmoil.

I’m still wrapping up Trackside: returning film, handling consignment payouts, closing out every remaining detail. But there’s no team anymore. No storefront, no “we.” It’s just me, doing my best to manage everything that used to be spread across multiple people. That means it’s slower than I want. It took until late last week just to carve out a full day to get the remaining items from Gene’s so I can return film to the people who trusted us with it.

I know its hard today to trust, but I am working to make it right by everyone. Closing the shop was supposed to be a sigh of relief but I am finding I won't find relief for quite a while.

My ask: please don't message former staff. Responsibility falls on me, and I am doing my best to reply and coordinate with everyone return of their items and payments. Send a message here, or email [email protected] - I'm doing my best to check these and reply to all of them but it might take a few days.

The End. Our time at 1601 Kossuth is over. The physical aspect of the shop closed on Valentine's Day, which in some ways...
03/04/2026

The End.

Our time at 1601 Kossuth is over. The physical aspect of the shop closed on Valentine's Day, which in some ways was fitting. We put a lot of love into the shop, and through closure I know how many people loved that we opened and were sad to see us go.

Love cannot fund retail.

We are still finishing up a number of our final orders, making sure everyone who had items on consignment get their payouts, last rolls of film to develop make it home. Please send us a message to [email protected] if you have remaining requests for us, as we are no longer answering phone messages.

This will likely be one of the last posts here, as I've struggled as an owner to figure out what's next for Trackside. I'll continue to direct photo scanning and restoration to Picture the Past, which is now under new direction. But I'm exhausted, and hanging up my hat for a while.

Fridge and washer/dryer (electric) available! Both were working and used within the last month. Treat Your Selfie used t...
02/26/2026

Fridge and washer/dryer (electric) available! Both were working and used within the last month. Treat Your Selfie used the washing machine to wash backdrops, and the fridge was our employee fridge for Trackside.

Make an offer, these aren't "free" and be ready to pickup ASAP! We aren't looking for crazy amounts, but a little extra cash helps pay for all of our closing costs.

More answers to questions:

What's next for you?

I've spent 31 years of my life in Indiana. I'd like to try and spend the next 31 (and beyond) in as many places, meeting as many people as I can. I've started plans in motion to travel around and give myself a chance to go experience the world around me.

What will you do while you travel?

Anything and everything. I still consider Indiana the "home base" for now. I've gotten some good offers to fly drones, do live video, and fall back on the skillset I've build up over many years of working.

If you need a Part 107 Drone Pilot, I'm open to contracting and getting additional certifications for Hazmat or industrial site inspections etc.

Anything I can do to help?

Build something. Take a risk. I'd love to come visit Lafayette again and have it filled with music and people prospering. I don't regret any of this journey, and will continue to give back to Lafayette even if it no longer feels like home anymore.

Where can I see this journey?

David (owner) is only on Facebook for managing the pages of the business and will be harder to contact via phone or social media. If you want to reach him, [email protected] will reach him personally and he probably encourage you to follow on Substack or an occasional email update or two.

It is a sharp cut in availability, but for approximately 6 years he's been bound to his phone and having to always be available for everyone else's "emergencies."

Free items available at 1601 Kossuth. We will be posting a few more every day, mostly on the large furniture or chairs s...
02/24/2026

Free items available at 1601 Kossuth. We will be posting a few more every day, mostly on the large furniture or chairs side. We won't be posting any camera gear or equipment as we are continuing to sell through eBay after our lease ends on March 1st at 1601 Kossuth.

I'll be posting a few answers to questions I've gotten with Trackside's closure.

"Why did you close?"

I knew retail was challenging and capital intensive. I started the venture on bootstraps, seeing how the community responded and was testing all sorts of different products and services. I was incredibly optimistic that people would have the disposable income and interest in photography. Unfortunately, even with my massive friend groups, connections, marketing pushes... We never saw foot traffic start to increase meaningfully and monthly sales were propped up by eBay. If we hadn't started selling on eBay, I likely would have chosen to close before 2025 ended.

One of the core decisions was looking at the numbers and projections. The shop had been actively losing $2k a week since the day it opened in addition to the time, money and energy I had put before October 15th. Inventory coming in costs money, staff/payroll costs money, utilities cost money. I as the owner was okay with losses as that was expected for the first few months and knew that I was okay eating about $100k in total debt.

There were definitely some ways I could have cut to try and stay alive, but cuts weren't enough. If I would have reduced hours, or tried to run the shop entirely by myself, it wouldn't have fixed the problem that people weren't coming in and purchasing. Running it solo also would have cut my ways to advertise, and be out in the community. Also a lot of my funding came from me actively shooting real estate and events, so I needed staff to be here while I went and shot to try and find the funds to keep the shop going during the first few months of losses.

In the end, even with ribbon cuttings, classes, and film development our best performing post on social media was our sudden announcement of closing. We got more sales in the flu

"What is next for Trackside? Will you continue classes/services?"

So I as the owner previously owned 5 businesses. I will be condensing down to 2, and reducing my visible footprint in the community to work more behind the scenes. Picture the Past is being taken up by one of my former staff members, and he will be also doing some level of printing services. RaggedyMan Media will continue to be independent and working to find a new home for him and his services.

As for classes, there is a chance we may continue classes with our local audience. Right now it unlikely to continue under the Trackside brand and more likely will be picked up by other photographers inspired by our classes.

More in the next post. - D

Check out MagMod Professional Flash Kit 2 (NEW NEVER OPENED), the latest item I added on eBay! https://ebay.us/m/rzb...
02/23/2026

Check out MagMod Professional Flash Kit 2 (NEW NEVER OPENED), the latest item I added on eBay! https://ebay.us/m/rzbzR9

I just added a new item to eBay, MagMod MagBounce 2 Flash Modifier (NEW NEVER OPENED)! https://ebay.us/m/z6OGop
02/23/2026

I just added a new item to eBay, MagMod MagBounce 2 Flash Modifier (NEW NEVER OPENED)! https://ebay.us/m/z6OGop

New! Magmod starter flash kit 2 (NEW NEVER OPENED) was just added to eBay. Check it out! https://ebay.us/m/9pOzjN
02/23/2026

New! Magmod starter flash kit 2 (NEW NEVER OPENED) was just added to eBay. Check it out! https://ebay.us/m/9pOzjN

Address

1601 Kossuth Street
Lafayette, IN
47905

Telephone

+17658068849

Website

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