Entry No. 134 — the Chicago file — filed under: camera store
Central Camera Company
Albert Flesch, a Hungarian immigrant who came to Chicago at 13 and started behind a department store's camera counter, opened this in 1899 on East Adams; it landed at 230 S. Wabash in 1929 and hasn't moved since. His grandson Don Flesch, who started here as a schoolboy in the 1950s, runs it now, and on May 30, 2020 he watched it burn — a basement fire during that weekend's unrest took 30 firefighters six hours, and roughly 50 items out of a 10,000-piece inventory survived. Chicagoans put nearly $230,000 into a GoFundMe, including one donation of exactly $1,899, and the rebuilt store reopened in 2022 in the same Wabash storefront. What's on the shelves is film, used bodies and glass, and accessories, packed in the old dense way under the L. Hours are short now — four days a week, with Friday and Saturday ending at 3 — so this is a daytime plan, not a date-night one.
→ Three more vintage, record & maker shops in Chicago — never the same twice
The story
Albert Flesch came to Chicago from Hungary at 13 and learned the trade behind the camera counter at Siegel, Cooper & Co. In 1899 he opened his own shop at 31 E. Adams St., and by 1900 he was doing commercial film developing and print processing. The store moved to the Palmer House around 1907 and settled at 230 S. Wabash in 1929, where it has stayed. Flesch died in 1933 at 56 and his sons Stanley and Harold took it over; Harold's son, Albert "Don" Flesch, started sweeping up as a schoolboy in the 1950s and runs the place today.
On May 30, 2020, during that weekend's unrest, a fire started in the basement. It took roughly 30 firefighters six hours, the store was looted as well as burned, and of an inventory of about 10,000 items, something like 50 survived. Flesch, then in his early seventies, set up a table on the sidewalk that June and kept selling. A GoFundMe pulled in close to $230,000 from photographers around the world, including one donation of exactly $1,899. The business worked out of the vacant storefront next door at 228 S. Wabash while its own was rebuilt, and reopened in the original space in 2022.
What's there now is film, used bodies and used glass, and accessories, stacked in the old dense way in a narrow room directly beneath the L. "We Do Film" is on the logo, and Flesch's own description of the place — "like a museum, a history of photography" — is less of a boast than an accurate inventory note. One thing they do not do, and they say so in capital letters in several places: camera repair.
What it's like
You come in off Wabash with a train going over your head, and the room is narrow, deep and packed — glass cases of used bodies and lenses, film by the shelf, accessories filling whatever's left. It is a counter store, not a browsing store: you say roughly what you shoot and roughly what you can spend, and someone behind the glass starts pulling things and talking. Expect to be talked past your budget with great warmth. If Don Flesch is in, the standing farewell is "Grab a chocolate," and the bowl came back with the store. Don't bring a broken camera hoping for a fix; they don't repair, full stop, though they'll point you somewhere. And watch the clock — Friday and Saturday they close at three, which catches people out.
The move: Be at the door by 1 on a Friday or Saturday, buy one cheap roll of film and one used body between you, then shoot the entire roll walking the Loop, over the river and back before the light goes. Alternate frames — you get the odds, they get the evens — and neither of you sees the results until it's developed, which is the point.
📍 Before you go Just north of Jackson on Wabash, directly under the L; the Adams/Wabash platform is basically outside the door, so any Loop line works. Open Tuesday–Thursday 10–5 and Friday–Saturday 10–3, closed Sunday and Monday. (312) 427-5580 or (800) 421-1899. They state plainly that they do not do camera repair — ask at the counter for a referral instead. Bring a rough budget and a rough idea of what format you want; the staff will happily talk you well past both. Don Flesch's standing greeting is "Grab a chocolate" — the bowl came back with the store.
- 📍 Chicago
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 230 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60604
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Charles L. Evans Money Museum — Three blocks west at 230 S. LaSalle, free, and on the same weekday-daytime clock — two single-subject Loop institutions you can do back to back before either closes.
- Batcolumn — A walk west to Madison for Oldenburg's hundred-foot perforated bat, which is exactly the kind of subject that justifies the roll of film you just bought.
- Jen Jansen Tintype Studio — The contrast trip: buy modern film in the Loop, then go be photographed on a 1920s Deardorff with wet-plate collodion and see which century flatters you.
More weird in Chicago
Good to know
Which train, and is it accessible?
The store is on Wabash just north of Jackson, essentially underneath the Adams/Wabash platform, which serves the Brown, Green, Orange, Pink and Purple lines — but Adams/Wabash is not ADA-accessible. For step-free access use Washington/Wabash, three blocks north, which opened in August 2017 with elevators and carries the same five lines.
What are the hours? They seem short.
They are. Tuesday through Thursday 10–5, Friday and Saturday 10–3, closed Sunday and Monday. That makes this a daytime plan rather than a date-night one. Confirm before a special trip at (312) 427-5580 or (800) 421-1899.
Will they fix my camera or develop my film?
They will not fix it — "we do not do camera repair" is stated repeatedly on their own site, and they'll refer you elsewhere if you ask at the counter. On processing, the site has said its store and services are being updated with more to come on photofinishing, so call and ask rather than turning up with exposed rolls.
What does a first visit actually cost?
A roll of film is pocket change and the point of entry. Beyond that it's entirely up to what used body or lens you let them show you, and the range is wide. Decide your ceiling on the sidewalk, because the staff are genuinely good at this and you will not decide it inside.
Is it worth going if I don't shoot film?
For the room and the story, yes — it's a 125-year-old family business that burned to roughly fifty surviving objects and came back to the same storefront. They also sell their own branded shirts, hats, totes, mugs and stickers, which is the honest souvenir if you leave without gear.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: centralcameraco.bigcartel.com · preservationchicago.org
last checked: 2026-08-26