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Business and Economic News
The Associated Press
Bismarck, N.D.

North Dakota photo business closure leaves couples in lurch

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The abrupt closure of a North Dakota-based photography business has left couples in several states, including Minnesota, scrambling to locate wedding photos or find new photographers for upcoming nuptials.

Glasser Images owner Jack Glasser said in a statement Friday that due in large part to COVID-19, the studio “simply couldn’t keep up with our ongoing costs, debt repayment, salaries, rent and other business expenses.” He told customers in an email he cannot offer refunds.

The move has Johnny Thompson and his wife Crystal Brunner-Thompson wondering if they will ever receive photos of their August wedding. They paid more than $2,000 for the Bismarck event.

“I’m an only child,” Brunner-Thompson said. “My parents are never going to get to do this again. I have no photos with my parents. I’d never seen my dad get emotional. It’s just stuff you can’t get back.”

Another customer told the Bismarck Tribune she had paid a similar amount in advance, for Glasser Images to photograph her wedding next year.

Glasser Images photographed weddings throughout the Dakotas, Minnesota and Colorado without charging for travel costs, according to the company website.

The North Dakota Attorney General’s Office said it had fielded more than 170 complaints about the situation by Friday afternoon and was investigating.

Glasser's attorney, Tim O’Keeffe, told the Bismarck Tribune that he and Glasser will be trying to talk with customers in the next couple of days.

“He’s going to do the best he can to take care of everybody, but there are a lot of moving parts right now,” O’Keeffe said. “At this point, there’s not an answer that everybody is going to be satisfied with.”