NFIB Mississippi Leadership Council member Margaret Remy founded her Meridian photo processing business, Quick Prints, 42 years ago, after seeing a one-hour photo lab in operation during her 25th annivesary trip to Hawaii.

“We were entering the industry at the beginning of the one-hour photo lab emergence, so it was three more labs and two years before we had helped diagnose a lot of their problems and finally had a working lab.” When she realizd that speed didn’t necessarily make for good prints, “we covered up the ‘one-hour’ on our sign with the word ‘quality.’”

Remy says she’s already had a passion for photography. “I have had a camera in my hand since I was 10 years old and have won a lot of photo contests, but I have never considered myself a ‘photographer,’” she said. “I just know what and what not to do from printing hundreds of thousands of images in 41 years. I will be 87 years old this year and have promised to keep Quick Prints open as long as God gets me out of bed each day.”

Remy recently spoke with us about her business and her reasons for joining NFIB in 1985.

How many employees do you have?

We have had as many as two full-time and one part-time employees; but with the emergence of online fulfillment and cell phone popularity, we downsized our business and relocated to our landlord’s basement across the parking lot two months before COVID came on the scene.

My husband was retired, so he became my partner, and we are open only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. When John died suddenly last year, I decided to continue to provide services unavailable within a 100-mile radius. Now that customers are getting the word we are still here, business has picked up considerably; and a friend is helping run the shop.

Why did you become an NFIB member?

Within the first year of opening our business, an NFIB rep called on us, and because I grew up in my grandfather’s, then my parents’, grocery store and became politically active in college, I didn’t hesitate to join the cause of small business issues. This was before I even joined a trade association.

In what ways has NFIB helped your small business?

My congressman appointed me to represent Mississippi at President Clinton’s White House Conference on Small Business in 1995, and I attended NFIB’s Small Business Summit every two years they had a follow-up. I was kept informed and was active in resolving EPA issues with photo chemistry and helped pass voter ID in Mississippi. The first year the award was established, NFIB named me Mississippi’s Small Business Champion.

What’s the biggest challenge that faces local small business owners like you?

Increased cost of supplies, shipping, rent, and advertising is hard to absorb when people can get almost anything online and can return at no cost. This has been the situation with a couple of friends who recently closed their service businesses.

How are you tackling that challenge in your own business?

Everything I do is available online and cheaper. I have remained in business because I am extremely picky about attention to detail, and I can live on Social Security by budgeting. We have been on a cash basis with our customers since our relocation. I have developed skills in restoring old, damaged, and faded photographs and can furnish photos on a short turnaround. I will meet customers on my days off and/or after hours. I am the volunteer photographer for eight nonprofits, and I carry business cards constantly. Cost of supplies has gone up appreciably, and we deal in small-ticket items. Because we are finally debt-free after upgrading equipment every 5 or 6 years for 38 years, my overhead is greatly decreased. Drugstores, print shops, and frame shops are referring folks to Quick Prints.

What advice would you give new NFIB members to make the most of their membership?

If they are going to join, be involved and be passionate. Stay in touch with elected officials and let them know needs and concerns. Be an informed citizen.