The History of Buckeye Pro Imaging
Our company was founded by Walter Troup and I'm sure he could never have imagined all that we have become today. Our growth has been the result of listening carefully to our customers needs and allowing our dedicated employees to respond to those needs. Without great people like you we could never have grown to be one of the larger portrait and wedding labs within the United States. Buckeye Pro Imaging was officially "founded" in 1970, however, our company really started as a photography studio in 1945. "I guess you could say I was bit by the shutter bug," explained Walter Troup, founder of Buckeye Pro Imaging. "I got my start in the early 1940s while I was in the Camera Club at Canton South High School. It was then that I fell in love with the art of photography. My late wife Norma Jean and I started our own business (Troup Studio) in 1947, by photographing high school seniors in my parents' home. As our passion for photography grew, so did our business. Suddenly my parent's home became too small for the volume of customers we had, and we desperately needed a larger space. So we rented a storefront room and two years later, Harry Pluto became my business partner, and we changed the name of the studio to Troup & Pluto.
"Troup & Pluto became widely known as a portrait studio, specializing in seniors and weddings. With the market wide open, Harry and I experienced rapid growth, and by 1960, we built our own studio in the Canton area. "Still growing well into the late 1960s, color photography became popular and we invested in equipment to do color lab work. To offset the costs, we solicited work from other photographers. Like now, there was great need in the marketplace for our services, so in 1970, Buckeye Pro Imaging was born. We were soon flooded with so many orders, it became necessary to move the lab business to its own building - an 8000 square foot facility in North Canton purchased in 1979." A new love.
"My new love became the lab," comments Walter. "I sold the studio in 1989. The lab business grew so quickly that after four short years in business, Buckeye Pro Imaging was already bursting at the seams and preparing for its first major expansion of 6000 square feet." The love story continues... Walter's son, Steve, continues the family tradition. "I grew up in the studio," says Steve Troup, president of Buckeye Pro Imaging. "I experienced the multifaceted world of photography by getting involved in the sales side and managed the studio. I also shared my dad's interest in photography and appreciated its artistic side." Steve added education to his real-life photographic experience with a bachelor's degree in marketing from Ohio State. "Of course my education has been helpful," comments Steve, "but it's my studio background that has helped tremendously in growing the lab. I know firsthand what studios want and need." In 1989, Steve came to work full-time at the lab to handle the marketing and business side. "About the same time, Bob Hendrickson came to us," says Steve. "He joined us as vice president of production and put his strong lab operations abilities to work."
Bob worked for one of the largest school portrait finishing labs in the country. Steve emphasizes, "A lot of our tremendous growth is due to him. He has had a remarkable ability to build our staff and reach exceptional company goals. He's improved work flow and created very efficient work systems." Anything worthwhile requires a lot of focus and determination. Steve continues to be amazed at the lab's rate of growth as Buckeye is quickly growing from a regional to a national lab. This increasing volume required more space to fulfill its customer's demands. In 1996, Buckeye bought the building adjacent to its property and combined the two buildings. This amounted to a 28,000 sq. foot facility - yet it was still not enough.
In 1999, Buckeye underwent another expansion: 9000 sq. feet to add much-needed administration and employee break areas. We are all very proud to be one of America's larger portrait and wedding labs. The "Buckeye family" consists of approximately 70 full-time . "Welcome to our family"
