The eBay Millionaire: Titanium PowerSeller Secrets for Building a Big Online Business

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Cord Camera

Like many eBay businesses, Cord Camera began in its founders’ home. But that was years ago, before eBay revolutionized how people buy and sell goods at both the retail and wholesale level. This company’s genesis came even before there was such a thing as the Internet.

On April 2, 1954, brothers Cushman “Jick” Cordle and William “Bud” Cordle and their mother, Laura, opened Fast Photo Service in the basement of their Ohio home. Their wholesale black-and-white film processing company soon outgrew its underground headquarters, and the Cordles moved their business to a building near Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In no time, they began selling photo equipment and supplies, in addition to running a photo development lab. By 1957, the wholesale side of the business had grown from just a few accounts to 68. The Cordle family sold that part of the business in 1957 to Tru-Photo and shifted their focus to selling equipment and photo developing services to retail customers.

Today, Cord Camera is the largest photographic retailer in the Midwest with 37 stores, 38 if you count its eBay operation.

The Cordles—the founders and later their sons—have never let their venture stagnate. Through the years, they’ve embarked on various ventures to improve, strengthen, and evolve the business.

The founders set the tone for this business philosophy in the 1950s when they sold the wholesale photo lab and put their efforts into retailing. When the family opened its second store ...