| Seawood Photo: 60 Years
Strong!
Seawood Photo was originally called The Photo Shop and
opened for business on April 19, 1947. The original
owner, Cliff Rattenbury, was in a partnership with
another store in nearby San Rafael also called the Photo
Shop. Cliff sold the San Anselmo store to Don and Nina
Davison in the early 1960’s, who then changed the name
to SeaWood to avoid confusion between the two now
separate stores. (The Photo Shop, San Rafael closed
indefinitely in the late 1980's).
The name Seawood is derived from the town's proximity to
the 'sea' and to the 'woods'. The Davisons owned SeaWood
for many years and went through a number of changes
including Seawood Photo and Sound in the 1970's.
In 1982 the town of San Anselmo endured a horrible flood
that devastated Seawood. The Davisons recovered and then
sold the business to Harry Bowman in 1987. Harry
had no retail experience, so on Don Davisson’s
recommendation hired Graham Law to manage the store.
Graham quickly changed the store from a sleepy
hole-in-the wall into a vibrant part of the Northern
California photo community. Seawood quickly grew and
prospered. In 1993 Graham bought the store from Harry
Bowman and has run it ever since.
Seawood began to target the collectible camera market
now has the largest inventory around. This also led to
the expansion of the Seawood camera collection; Seawood
has over 500 classic cameras on display in the store.
Other departments have grown as well, with a large
selection of professional lighting, darkroom supplies,
albums and frames available.
The digital camera revolution has invigorated the
industry as never before. Seawood sells only best
point-and-shoot cameras and D-SLR’s. These, along with
digital inkjet printers, papers and supplies are in huge
demand.
Consumer education has always been paramount, with
Seawood having dozens of classes and workshops
throughout the year. They only hire the best, most
knowledgeable salespeople with a true passion for
photography.
On December 31st, 2006 San Anselmo had yet another
flood. Seawood lost a huge amount of inventory and the
building sustained much damage. Fortunately the camera
collection was high and dry, and due to the heroic
efforts of Seawood’s current Manager, Tom Boss, much was
saved. Within 48 hours Seawood was open again for
business.
2007 marks Seawood’s 60th year in the photo industry! |
