The Photo Place Inc. was founded in 1983 by Charles Klingensmith as an Ohio Corporation. The business was first located in the Austintown Plaza in Mahoning County, Ohio to serve both amateur and professional photofinishing markets. The 1 hour photofinishing concept was new in 1983 and provided the catalyst for a new enterprise in a new market. The Photo Place is distinguished from most businesses by its unrelenting concern for customer satisfaction Their “quality and customer satisfaction first“ philosophy is supported by a highly trained staff, the best raw materials available, and state of the art equipment.

In keeping with this philosophy, The Photo Place has always operated from a single location. With an on-site owner/manager, always available to the customer, the business has created a loyal customer following. After 17 years in the Austintown Plaza, in 2000, the owners purchased a vacant lot on State Route 46 about a mile from the original plaza location and built a state of the art, custom designed facility to house the operation and carry the business into the 21st century. The new location at 480 S Canfield Niles Rd (SR 46) in Austintown, complete with a drive-up window, has proven to be a marketing strength in the local market.

Mr. Kingensmith earned a MS in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University. With his technical inclination he led The Photo Place to be first in the Mahoning Valley to implement many photofinishing innovations such as disc film processing, Advantix film processing and digital printing. The digital imaging revolution has been devastating to many technology challenged photo industry businesses, while The Photo Place continues to thrive in the new opportunities of digital imaging.