by Jeroslyn JoVonn
July 30, 2025
Dominick Lewis is the proprietor of one in all New York Metropolis’s few Black-owned digicam shops, which he’s efficiently grown right into a million-dollar enterprise.
One of many few Black-owned digicam retailers in New York Metropolis has scaled its enterprise from bringing in about $700,000 a 12 months to over $1 million, remodeling it into what’s shortly changing into a pictures staple within the metropolis.
Dominick Lewis grew his million-dollar digicam enterprise, Photodom, from the bottom up, beginning as an e-commerce store in 2017 earlier than increasing right into a brick-and-mortar location in 2020, all with a robust community-focused mission.
“I felt that beginning one thing at the moment, particularly a bodily digicam retailer, may have been very impactful for the group,” Lewis advised CNBC Make It.
Simply over a 12 months after opening, Photodom pulled in $726,910 in whole gross sales in 2021. On the time, Lewis was paying himself round $50,000 a 12 months and had a staff of 5. By 2023, gross sales had climbed to $1,096,319, and in 2024, they rose even increased to $1,146,737. Lewis now leads a workers of 10 and earns a yearly wage of $97,000. His greatest pleasure is being an asset to the local people he goals to serve.
“The neighborhood loves us being right here. Folks can really feel snug going to and asking any kind of questions that they need about cameras and pictures,” Lewis mentioned.
“Being one of many solely Black owned digicam shops is an enormous duty. I really feel prefer it’s a vital factor to have this belonging as a result of previously, it may imply violence in case you went to an area that was not meant for you.”
This wasn’t Lewis’s first try at launching a retailer. He initially opened a pictures studio in his residence state of Florida in 2015, however misplaced the lease simply 9 months in and realized he wanted to rethink his strategy.
Recognizing that Florida’s pictures market moved extra slowly, he determined to return to New York Metropolis, the place he spent a part of his childhood, and moved in along with his grandmother whereas working to construct what would grow to be Photodom.
Lewis began by promoting customized merchandise and organizing “picture walks” and meetups with fellow photographers. However as his bed room overflowed with digicam gear, he knew it was time to return to studio life. He went on to lease a studio in Brooklyn, the place he discovered a bigger, extra supportive pictures group.
Launching in 2020 got here with its personal advantages. With many different companies shut down, Photodom shortly turned the go-to spot for movie growth within the Huge Apple. As on-line orders rolled in and demand for companies grew, Lewis realized it was time to open a bodily storefront.
He secured a second house in the identical constructing as his studio and launched a GoFundMe marketing campaign to assist convey the storefront to life. Though his purpose was $25,000, Lewis raised greater than $40,000 in only a few days.
“Lots of people have been supportive of the efforts to make one thing that was Black-owned and really private to the group that we served,” he says. “I knew the GoFundMe can be one thing that would assist make the house really feel extra private. I used to be shocked as a result of I didn’t suppose that many individuals knew about what I used to be doing.”
Within the 5 years since its launch, Photodom has relocated to a bigger house and broadened its companies to incorporate pictures courses and workshops. Lewis envisions remodeling the enterprise into an establishment devoted to the craft of pictures.
“My imaginative and prescient for the shop was undoubtedly to make it a one-stop store for photographers, particularly analog photographers,” Lewis shared. “I needed an area that carried a number of various things. I at all times envision Photodom as an establishment. A spot that could be very vital for all functions round it.”
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